The Safest Man on the Planet

When Graham Walters set off from Grand Canary Island off northwest Africa for his fifth and final Atlantic crossing under oars, he understood the magnitude of rowing 3,000 miles nonstop. His earlier voyages, two of them solo and two as part of a team, schooled the 72-year-old on what to expect. He was no stranger to adverse weather and sea conditions and could write books on gear failure and close encounters. Fully provisioned, with his wife’s blessing and an unwavering determination, he began the journey on January 25, 2020, with hopes of breaking a record as oldest person to row any ocean solo. For 94 days, he rowed toward the island of Antigua, never imaging the world he would find there.

During the journey, Walters and his wife, Jean, held weekly satellite phone chats during which he learned snippets about a new virus and its constantly changing course of devastation. With no Internet access or radio news, it was difficult for him to imagine the unfolding disaster when each day at sea dawned as the one before; two hours of rowing followed by a well-planned meal. “Hadn’t heard a thing about the virus before I left,” he said. “I suppose I was in my own world at sea. It just didn’t register with me.” Being of a certain age and with the added risk factor of having worked around asbestos, Walters began to wonder about virus exposure after his eventual landfall. “I only had the experience of what’s happened in the past—out there. Coming toward the end, as the island closed, I thought to myself, ‘This is the safest place to be.’”

That safe place was aboard a 23' 4" wooden boat that he built in 1997.