PEGGY BOUCHET

« Always dare, sometimes give in, never give up » ^©

1st woman who dared to row across the Atlantic

1998: An Unfinished Victory

Photo credits: Guillaume Plisson

Countdown

May 27, 1998: in a few hours I’m due to cross the finish line after 79 days at sea. I’m so happy. It’s 7 o’clock in the morning. As I approached the islands, the current and waves became stronger. The sea is crossed and hostile, with waves the size of two-storey buildings crashing powerfully against the hull of my boat. I put on my harness and open my porthole to take out my oars. In a flash, a violent breaker capsizes the boat.

Capsizing

In a few tenths of a second, I’m trapped under my boat by the harness that prevents me from surfacing. In a panic, I flail around, running out of oxygen. Seconds seemed to last for hours. Finally, I come to my senses, climb up the lifeline and open the karabiner that ties me to the boat. I take refuge under the cockpit in an air pocket to catch my breath. I try to right the boat, but to no avail. In a matter of seconds, the water rushes in and the boat seems to weigh tons. She’s 80% submerged.

In Survival

It’s all over! … I realize now that I won’t be crossing the finish line. I’m less than 130 kilometers from the Guadeloupe coast, having covered almost 5500 kilometers at arm’s length. A brief feeling of frustration and injustice fades away, to be replaced by one priority: SURVIVAL. First step: activate my distress beacon. In theory, by the time I’ve located the distress signal, alerted the emergency services and carried out the air rescue, in less than 2 hours I should be rescued…

Pushing back the limits

For almost 9 hours, I’ll be on life support, straddling the hull of my overturned boat. My only hope is that help will find me before nightfall. After that, I have no certainty about my immediate future. A few meters below, I am startled to see two 4-meter sharks feasting on the freeze-dried food supplies escaping from the boat.

Since the capsize, I’ve had to dive into the cabin some twenty times before retrieving another distress beacon, for fear that the first one wouldn’t work.

Before each dive, I scan the height of the waves, choosing the least powerful to avoid being knocked unconscious inside the cabin. I’ve got nothing left to lose. I’m afraid the boat will sink. I’m exhausted.

My boat now floats between two waters. Reddened by the salt, my eyes burn. I’m freezing. I’ve been in the water for almost 9 hours. It’s 4pm, in less than an hour the sun will set. I don’t know if I’ll still be alive to contemplate the dawn tomorrow morning.

Last chance…

Suddenly, the sound of a plane draws my attention, heading in my direction. I wave my arms with my beacons. He doesn’t see me. The disappointment is immense! Quickly, I had to find a solution, as the opportunity would probably never come again. On board, I have distress flares stored in watertight lockers, but access to them will cause more water to seep into the boat, which will sink even faster. I’ve got nothing left to lose.

I can’t and don’t want to die after so much effort and so many sacrifices, so close to that dream finish. After several attempts, I finally manage to get them back.

Photos credits: Guillaume Plisson

Rescue

20 minutes later, a new plane appears, I send up my distress flares, it flies over me, turns, a sign of wings, they’ve spotted me. The customs plane drops a life raft less than 5 meters from me. Rage in my heart, I have to abandon my boat, I moor my Argos beacon to the rudder hoping to see it again. I’ll then be picked up by a cargo ship over 250 m long and, above all, 20 m high. A rope ladder dangling and undulating over its hull seemed elusive and endless. This rescue, carried out at dusk in heavy seas, lasted over 2 hours.

The welcome I received on board was extraordinary, and it was the same the next day with the US Coast Guard who picked me up and took me to Pointe-à-Pitre, where family, friends and officials were happy to welcome me. For them, it’s a record; for me, it’s an “unfinished victory”.

At the end of this first journey, I didn’t cross my finish line, but nevertheless I’m the first to demonstrate that a woman could do it. I promise myself I’ll do it all over again to succeed.

PEGGY BOUCHET

1ère femme à avoir osé traverser l’Atlantique à la rame