News
Brothers Ralph and Robert Brown, who set off from Tampa June 27 on a record-breaking trip across the Atlantic in a 21-foot fishing boat, have landed in Europe.
The brothers reached land at 6:40 p.m. Friday (about 11:40 p.m. in Tampa), they announced on a blog Saturday at the Web site www.crosstheatlantic.com.
"It is exciting that we are actually here!" Ralph Brown, 50, who lives in Spring Hill, said via satellite phone. "By the way, it is a beautiful place. Here we are!"
From Tampa to London, the brothers set several records, including being the smallest powerboat to cross the Atlantic, the first flats boat to cross the Atlantic and the longest ocean voyage in a flats boat.
Ralph Brown, who owns Dream Boats in Hudson, specially designed the tiny open fishing boat he and his brother used, outfitting it with a buoyant roof so it wouldn't capsize and safety equipment. Robert Brown, 52, lives in Merritt Island.
The nearly 7,000-mile trip was not without its ups and downs.
The brothers survived being hit by an iceberg in Greenland, almost running out of fuel, slamming into rocks and running out of money.
From London, the brothers are headed to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
It's not the first time the pair has set a record. In 2007, they earned a Guinness record after making the 1,400-mile trip from Atlantic Beach, N.C., to Bermuda to New York Harbor in the same type of boat, which is typically used in shallow water.
But this summer's trip was about something bigger.
The voyage was made in honor of three of Ralph Brown's Marine comrades, who died in an ill-fated 1980 attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran. The brothers hope that the trip will help them raise $3 million for wounded hero charities.
Loading...
