Safe in Harbour

Our local adventurer Jasmine Harrison rowed over 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands to Antigua in the West Indies, in the process projecting herself into the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest female ever to row solo across an ocean. Her boat Argo is now back in the UK and last Saturday it took pride of place in the marketplace. Jasmine was there as well, still exuding the calm that took her on this remarkable journey.

And what a small boat it is when you think of the job it had to do. Built in Burnham on Crouch in Essex and weighing just 3,500 kg empty and about 7,000 kg when kitted out, it faced Atlantic storms and the risk of encounters with sea creatures and immense cargo vessels. There are storage-cum-sleeping areas at each end, but the Captain’s Cabin looked hardly large enough for anyone to sleep although Jasmine said she was OK in there.

This event attracted the attention of larger media than myself. Jeremy Buxton from Radio York was there, the first time he had driven the outside broadcast van in a year. His Saturday role in the Finders Keepers programme had been cancelled when there were no events to drop in on during the pandemic. He was joined by camera crews from ITV Calendar and BBC Look North….