TEDDY REZVOY’S romance with conquering the Atlantic in a rowboat has sadly ended back where it started: on the East Coast of the United States.
It has also left him with enduring respect for the people who enforce our homeland security – although he would like his boat back, thank you very much.
Rezvoy departed from Battery Park to great fanfare on July 2 to row across the Atlantic. On July 10, some 204 miles east of New York, Teddy saw a vessel nearby on his radar. Then everything began to unravel.
Teddy, a Ukrainian citizen who was once a Soviet soldier, told the tale to me yesterday through an interpreter:
“The night before, I had capsized twice. The boat self-rights itself, but after a little strain. It started a slight discomfort in my liver, which has happened before.
“As is practice, I contacted the vessel on channel 16, giving position and destination – France. The reply was, ‘Do you need help?’ I told them I could do with some medication, but it wasn’t an emergency and if they didn’t have it, not to worry. I didn’t know who I was talking to.”
So much for France’s Bastille Day – which is today – because over the radio, Teddy heard a joking reply: “Why should we help the French if they don’t like us?”
What happened next was no joke and suddenly, he knew whom he had been talking to.
Out of the afternoon sun came a giant. It was the USS Doyle, a Navy missile frigate.
Teddy’s craft, a $100,000 boat called The Ukraine, was boarded. He was searched head to toe. A knife and flares were confiscated, and he was taken on board for another search. A Navy diver even went underwater to search the hull of the rowboat.
Teddy told the crew, “I can’t be separated from my boat. They told me my boat would be fine. One attempt to bring it aboard failed, but they said, ‘Don’t worry.’ “
He should have worried – it appears they left Teddy’s boat out in the middle of the Atlantic as they took him to a police station in Salem, Mass.
Not for prosecution, mind you, just a place to sleep.
“I emphasize, nobody is suing, nobody is criticizing,” Teddy said.
“I don’t blame them for thinking I was a terrorist, because despite the fact that I was heading to France, an easterly wind blew up and a 4-knot tide actually swept me six miles traveling toward New York. They were very thorough.
“I would just like to get the boat back.”
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OAR-DEAL ENDS (map)
N. Cove Marina, World Financial center, NYC – France: total distance: 3,500 miles