Theodore Rezvoy, a rower attempting to row from New York to Scilly and on to France was stopped by the US Navy.

On a day when “Teddy” Rezvoy had already needed to right his transatlantic rowing vessel twice, having been flipped in the waves, and needing to repair his rudder in shark-infested water (white sharks), Teddy saw a ship on the horizon. “A painkiller (from the ship) would be great,” Teddy thought to himself. He radioed the vessel for a painkiller. The US Navy vessel then approached.

The Navy was suspicious and on high alert after the events of 11 September 2001 in New York.

The Navy dived under the yellow rowing boat (pictured above) and confiscated his “weapons”, a penknife and flares. Teddy was lifted aboard the USS Doyle.

“They asked me if I have some explosive material or some weapons. And they took from the boat my knife and flares and everything dangerous - they took it all,” said Rezvoy.

The Navy then attempted to bring aboard the rowing boat, a process which was unsuccessful and damaged the boat. The rowing boat was then cast adrift.

OceanRowing.com explains: “He got to sleep on a hard birch in the hallway. … The boat that his father had so lovingly devoted most his time to was lost. The U$100,000 expedition money was gone, a serious blow to Teddy’s U$200/month income back in Ukraine. His personal clothes, pictures, food, tech - all was lost by a single cut of the towing rope. Back on land, Teddy was handed the last piece of hope - the Argos tracker. The Marines had left the emergency beacon, but for some reason gone back for the Argos tracking unit before releasing his boat.

They continue: “If Teddy had been an American rower there would have been CNN, ABC news, AP and Reuters raising hell right now. Teddy’s papers were clear and he had all the right in the world to row out of US to France. Even the coastguard came over to see him off at Battery Park.

”But Teddy is from Ukraine. Back at ExplorersWeb office in Manhattan, he already plans for a fresh start next year. He says he takes full responsibility for what happened and wishes no harm to the US Navy. He only hopes he’ll be let back into the country next year to follow through on his adventure.

”It was people like Teddy who once built America. They came from Europe on wooden boats and feared nothing. They made a country based on Freedom and Justice for all. We love that. We need to protect that. But more than our lives, we need to protect the American dream. The dream that if a single guy dreams up that he can row in a small boat all the way to France, he has the right to try.”

He rowed across the Atlantic in the opposite direction in 2001 (due west). Should he complete the challenge Teddy would become the third person in history to complete a ‘return trip’ rowing across the Atlantic.

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