€30,000 bill for rower’s ‘rescue
*Towed back – Victor Gavrishev.
OVERZEALOUS coastguards sprang into action to tow a lone Atlantic rower back to port – and then presented him with a bill for €30,000.
But he had not asked for their assistance.
Millionaire businessman Victor Gavrishev, from Kyrgyzstan, had radioed a friend to bring him back to the port of San Sebastian, La Gomera, when the weather turned foul after he had rowed 3½ miles of his 3,000-mile journey to Antigua.
But the coastguard was tuned in to the airwaves and sped to his ‘rescue’. His friend had not even left port by the time they hitched up to Victor’s boat and began bringing him back.
There he was greeted by officers from the Guardia Civil who slapped a demand on him for the €30,000 to cover the cost of towing im him home.
In a flurried exchange of letters he negotiated the bill down to €697 but the incident left a sour taste in the mouths of the five sets of rowers still waiting in San Sebastian for a change in the weather to allow them to make the perilous crossing.
“This was not a rescue,” said Kenneth Crutchlow, of The Ocean Rowing Society, which is coordinating their bid. “It was an unnecessary response to a simple call to a particular individual to render assistance.
“Victor was not in immediate danger but just needed help to get back to port because he could not row against the headwinds he would have to face.”
Under maritime rules a vessel in distress would be expected to set off an alarm that would be responded to by any other vessel in the area to render assistance. No charge would be made for the rescue.
“In this case there was no distress and it was not an emergency,” said Mr Crutchlow. “The coastguard simply jumped the gun.”
The rowers had gathered in La Gomera to accompany veteran ocean rower, Graham Walters, 59, on a lone row to commemorate the ill-fated voyage of Britons David Johnstone and John Hoare who perished in 1966 during the first attempt to row the Atlantic in the 20th century.
Their 15ft craft, Puffin, was later recovered and put on display in a maritime museum. Graham bought it, restored it and brought it to La Gomera to make the 40th anniversary commemoration voyage.
He aims to raise enough funds from sponsorship and donations to buy an ambulance for the London operations of the Red Cross.
Joining him, but acting entirely independently on the row to Antigua will be rowers from several countries.
Victor Gavrishev is an adventurer, formerly with the Russian special paratroops force, film actor and director and now director of a satellite communications company. Unfortunately his company’s coverage does not extend to the Atlantic or he would have been able to call for help by phone instead of using the radio and being picked up by the Canarian coastguard.
Eager to get started, he departed from San Sebastian last Wednesday during an all too brief lull in the stormy weather.
Waiting out the weather are two Englishmen, Stu Turnbull and Ed Baylis, who plan to smash the world record and beat the notorious 40-day barrier for a two-man crew aboard their 27ft boat Memory of Zayed.
Going at the same time will be Dutchmen Wendel Röntgen and Gijs Köning, who will be leaving Gran Canaria for St Maarten in the Dutch Antilles.
And Indian Bhavik Ghandi, the friend Victor called for assistance in La Gomera, aims to be the first Asian to row solo across the Atlantic, in his boat, Miss Olive.
All the crews were waitingthis week for a change in the weather, hoping to be away by Friday at the latest.
Already out there is Andre Mateu, who is attempting to be the first Canarian to row across the Atlantic solo. He left La Gomera on December 2 in his boat Isidoro Arias.
Further across the Atlantic, are Dutch brothers, Michael and Ralph Tuijn, who left La Gomera on September 27 to row to Curacao in the Dutch Antilles. After a brief stopover in Martinique they resumed their journey on December 12.
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