ROWING THE PACIFIC: 7,000 Miles from Japan to San Francisco

A thrilling adventure book by a man who can not only row but can write about near-death experiences and the equipment failures, battling extreme fatigue, frightening storms and an ocean the consistency of liquid cement. Crossing the North Pacific in an open rowing boat was one of the world's last great firsts, and, on his third attempt at this most challenging of all open-ocean rowing feats, Mick Dawson was determined to make it. Storms, fatigue, intense hunger and lack of water are just a few of the challenges that he and fellow rower Chris Martin overcame during a back-breaking voyage of over six months. Finally on 13th November after 189 days, 10 hours and 55 minutes of rowing around the clock, facing the destruction of their small boat and near-certain death every mile of the way, they finally reached the iconic span of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. It is a nail-biting true story of man versus nature. Former Royal Marine Commando Dawson takes on first the Atlantic and ultimately the North Pacific as he details how he and Chris propelled their fragile craft, stroke by stroke, for thousands of miles overcoming failure, personal tragedy and everything that nature could throw at them along the way. 'The Kuroshio, or Black Current, is a huge, powerful stream of warm water that sweeps up from the Philippines and flows past the coast of Japan... It's a magic carpet ride for an ocean rowing boat, as it can move at up to 7 knots in places... That gives you crucial miles between you and the early-season typhoons and storms...' 275pp, softback.