Latvian Rower Shares Lockdown Tips and Plans for Next Adventure

Stops along the way connected the economics and environmental sciences graduate with the people of Tuvalu, French Polynesia, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, among others.

Bardelis said that wherever he showed up, looking like a latter-day Viking, with blue eyes, long blond hair and an ample beard, locals were invariably welcoming.

In Indonesia, they helped him haul his boat ashore and to scrape barnacles and shells off the hull.

Despite having spent most of his time alone at sea, Bardelis said he never felt lonely.

"The ocean is full of life: I wasn't alone, but rather together with birds, fish, whales," he said, adding that podcasts and audiobooks, downloaded while at port, also helped.

Read also: Tourist in Australia Struck by Whale’s Tail

The Pacific crossing was not his first epic sea journey: in 2016, Bardelis rowed with a friend across the Atlantic from Namibia to Brazil.

He later crossed South America on a tandem bicycle with his then-girlfriend, before beginning his solo row from Peru.

Bardelis said that his ultimate goal was to return to his boat in Malaysia, once the monsoon season has passed, and begin rowing again to reach Namibia and so circumnavigate the globe powered only by his body.

"It would be easy to pull up a sail, but I love rowing, and using sails would feel like cheating, even if only to myself," he said.

(Writer: Imants Liepinsh)

Source: http://u.afp.com/3BW8