Scottish man's Atlantic rowboat crossing attempt ends with rescue off NJ

Susanne Cervenka | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Scottish Rower Rescued Off Barnegat Light A Scottish man attempting to row across the Atlantic for charity did not make it very far.

BARNEGAT LIGHT - A Scottish man attempting to cross the Atlantic in his homemade rowboat was rescued 20 miles off Barnegat Light after being hit by bad weather.

Duncan Hutchison, 52, of Lochinver, spent three years building his rowboat, called Sleipnir, in his shed to raise money for the charity WaterAid, according to his Facebook page and media reports.

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Hutchison set off from Manhattan Yacht Club on May 31 headed for Scotland, expecting the transatlantic voyage would take 90 to 100 days.

Yet, that effort hit a snag when the U.S. Coast Guard rescued him Monday morning from the 21-foot-long vessel, which Hutchison described as "self-built, clinker-style skiff converted for ocean rowing."

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Hutchison called for help at 11:20 p.m. Sunday night on his marine band radio after facing 21-mph winds and 8.5-foot seas, according to the Coast Guard.

A 47-foot motor lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light responded and lifted Hutchison from the rowboat.

The fact Hutchison had the marine radio onboard helped in the rescue, Coast Guard spokesman Seth Johnson said.

The Coast Guard recommends boaters carry both radios as well as GPS, which can allow boaters to provide better information to rescue crews as well as allow the Coast Guard to triangulate their locations, Johnson said.

"That can greatly reduce the response time," he said.

Hutchison was left without clean clothes, money or his passport — all of which were still on his rowboat — but was helped by the Coast Guard team and the owner of Sandcastle B&B, according to his Facebook account.

Hutchison is an amateur rower but has spent his life working at sea, most recently in the offshore oil industry, according to a BBC report.

So why was he doing this? Why not.

"I am doing this to prove that normal people can build a boat and row it across the Atlantic," Hutchison told the BBC.

"That is the idea, to prove that normal people can do unusual things."

Susanne Cervenka: @scervenka; 732-643-4229; scervenka@gannettnj.com