Italian man rescued 65 miles from completing 10,000 nautical miles journey

short of rowing Pacific Ocean solo
An Italian man who was trying to complete a journey of 10,000 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean in a row boat had to be rescued just 65 nautical miles (75 miles) from his destination in Australia.

It was a rather ignominious end to a grand adventure. After 10 months of rowing alone across the vast Pacific Ocean, eating only dried food and with nothing but emails from fans for company, Alex Bellini was rescued by a tugboat, just 65 nautical miles from his destination.

Mr Bellini, 30, set off on his solo crossing from Lima, Peru, in February, and had planned to next set foot on land in Sydney on Saturday. His plan was to row across the great ocean in his 25-foot boat. For 99 per cent of the gruelling journey, success seemed to be within his grasp.

But, suffering from exhaustion and battered by fierce storms off the eastern coast of Australia, he was forced to call his wife on Friday and ask her to send for help. The New South Wales mid-north coast was just beyond the horizon.

Salvation came hours later in the form of an Australian search and rescue aircraft and a New Zealand-registered tugboat. more