AN RNLI LIFEBOAT has recovered a transatlantic boat abandoned by a British adventurer in a hurricane some 400 miles west of Portugal.
The Castletownbere crew was called to assist the unmanned rowboat yesterday afternoon after it was reported to be floating about 500 metres from the shore in Dunmanus Bay.
The crew recovered the boat, called Happy Socks, before towing it to Castletownbere in force seven winds.
Paul Stevens of Castletownbere RNLI said: “It transpired that this boat had been abandoned two months ago 400 miles west of Portugal by a lone oarswoman who was rowing from Cape Cod to London.
She abandoned the boat in a hurricane and was picked up by a Canadian vessel.
‘Happy Socks is safe’
British adventurer Sarah Outen MBE successfully completed a world expedition in November, having set out from London in April 2011.
She rowed, cycled and kayaked across the northern hemisphere in an adventure that covered 25,000 miles.
Outen experienced extreme conditions during the four-and-a-half-year trip, including hurricane winds that forced her to abandon Happy Socks this summer after 143 days at sea.
Last night, she thanked the RNLI on Twitter, saying she plans to travel to Ireland to retrieve the boat.
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