ROWED TRIP

Meet the Dubai-based team making a ‘world’s first’ voyage across the Pacific

Maybe it’s the frontier desert landscape that occupies much of the UAE’s interior, maybe it’s the pervasive sense that anything is possible in this beautiful ol’boomtown of ours, but certainly, something seems to fan the flames of pioneering fire within the emirate’s residents. And the latest wild challenge to be chosen by a band of intrepid Dubai-based adventurers is something though attempted in the past, has never been achieved. It’s a journey that will require extreme physical endurance from the team tackling it, bringing them face-to-face with unknown perils of the deep, Einstein’s crystals, cosmic isolation, the potential for 100ft waves and James Blunt’s ukulele...

We’re speaking to Paris Norriss (AKA Guy in Dubai), one of a four-man crew (which also includes Harry Amos, Oliver Amos and Barney Lewis) aiming to row across a treacherous 4,800km stretch of the Pacific Ocean, from Monterey California to the island of Kaua in Hawaii. The scheduled departure date for the ‘Brothers N Oars’ team is June 12, and — with fair winds and a bit of luck — the voyage will likely take around 40 days.

Top on our list of questions was of course ‘why though?’ But we also drop anchor over some of the more exciting, compassionate and frankly terrifying aspects of the trip.

What are the biggest dangers and physical challenges that you’ll have to overcome?

The most remote place on earth is Point Nemo in the Pacific Ocean, not far from where our route takes us. Being so isolated means the closest people to us will be astronauts and hence we need to be able to endure everything the Pacific throws at us. Hurricanes in the ocean can generate waves up to 100 feet high in bitter cold winds. This could capsize the boat which can be very dangerous and we need to know how to correct the situation if it does occur. But the thing that keeps me awake at night is sharks. Once every five days someone needs to get in the water and scrub the bottom of the boat to make it streamlined. This takes about 20 minutes and whilst your teammates will be watching out for sharks, it doesn’t take away from the fear of looking down at an ocean that is 11km deep.

What inspired you to make this journey?

My own personal motivation came 10 years ago when I looked after someone within my extended family who had a terminal illness and eventually passed away. The notion that life is not guaranteed gave me the realisation that I need to make my career the avenue for the life I want to live and came up with the idea to create my own TV series (Guy in Dubai) covering the adventures that the eight-year-old version of myself dreamed of. I made a conscious decision to take on some mega challenges, so when my dear old school friend Oli Amos told me he was planning to row across an ocean with his brother, I didn’t waste a second to say “I’m in”.

What kind of supplies and equipment will you be taking?

The boat is a Rannoch R45 Elite. It’s built of carbon fiber to make it more lightweight than traditional fiberglass. It’s 7.5m long and about 2m wide and has two cabins which we sleep in. We generate electricity from two solar panels which feed our communication equipment as well as our water desalinator and anything else electric we wish to take with us. Our food is mainly freeze dried food from Real Turmac which we add hot water to hydrate. We need to eat between 5-6,000 calories each day (we’ll be burning around 9,000), so highly calorific snacks are a must. Malt loaf seems to be one the team like. Also, celebrity mystifier Uri Geller sent the team four crystals , for good luck. They were found on Albert Einstein’s desk when } he died.

What sort of shanty bangers are going on your mid-Pacific playlist? A bit of Hawaiian music seems topical, though Oli Amos is in charge of our playlist as he seems to have a taste that we all agree on. We also have a signed Ukulele being donated by James Blunt (cousin to the Amos brothers) for me to play along the journey. As the Ukulele is an instrument native to Hawaii, we thought of creating a few songs along the way to let the Hawaiian’s know we are inbound.

How did you choose the charities involved?

We are supporting two charities, The Invictus Games, which was a strong supporter of Cayle Royce MBE and hence a nice way to give back to a Charity that helped a good friend of the team. We also wanted to support a charity focusing on marine conservation as our row will take us past the Pacific trash dump. We want to raise awareness and funds for the inspirational projects that the Blue Marine Foundation are doing to conserve 30 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030.

Good luck to Paris and the team. May peace be the journey. You can follow the lads’ voyage on their Instagram page

@brothersnoarspacific2023

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