Across The Savage Sea The First Woman To Row Across The North Atlantic

Over a thousand men have climbed Mount Everest. Twelve have walked on the moon, and only six have rowed across the Atlantic from west to east. No woman had yet accomplished this feat-until now. When twenty-five-year-old Maud Fontenoy began planning her journey across the North Atlantic in her twenty-four-foot boat, Pilot-defying all odds-she had little idea what was in store for her. From the moment of her departure, back-to-back storms, with up to thirty-foot waves, tossed Maud and Pilot up and down relentlessly as if they were Nature's playthings, leaving mariner and boat battered and bruised. And this was just the beginning. In the cold and fog, huge container ships appeared out of nowhere and almost crushed her tiny craft. Later, in the middle of the ocean, she found herself without drinking water and discovered her two desalinators had stopped working. Close to panic, she transformed herself into a makeshift engineer and after hours of struggle managed to get one machine working. She thought she had seen it all when enormous whales emerged, rocking her boat playfully but menacingly as they dived under and around Pilot, something she might have found entertaining had it not been for the mortal danger their maritime hijinks presented. Still more dangerous were the circling sharks that sniffed with ominous curiosity at this strange creature. But poetic and beautiful moments also graced her journey: viewing unbelievably starry skies as she rode on still waters at night; playing and chatting with flying dolphins; and waking one morning to suddenly warm water, the blessed Gulf Stream. Despite all her battles with the elements and the sea, Maud Fontenoy landed, after four long months, victoriously in La Coruna, Spain-the first woman to row across the North Atlantic.Fontenoy, Maud is the author of 'Across The Savage Sea The First Woman To Row Across The North Atlantic', published 2005 under ISBN 9781559707626 and ISBN 1559707623.