He had not given any news for a month, had not been seen by any boat since July 22, and his satellite position had not been displayed for two weeks. Suffice to say that the family and team of Guirec Soudée, this Breton adventurer who paddled across the Atlantic Ocean from west to east almost two months ago, was particularly distressed. But relief came Thursday evening: a chemical tanker crossed the path of the kayak. The rower was even able to send him a brief message to clarify that “everything is fine on board”.
“Finally a proof! Guirec is doing well! What emotion ! ” reacts his team. “The simple fact of having warned the ships in the area has borne fruit and confirms to us that Guirec is doing well and wishes to continue on its way,” says his team. It even seems that he has electricity on board allowing him to converse by radio. We were right not to panic and to respect Guirec’s choice not to trigger anything untimely. “
A call for help to Thomas Pesquet
Victim of damage during a storm, Guirec Soudée has been deprived of long-distance communication tools for about a month. An international research protocol had been launched to find him in early August. His entourage even had appealed to astronaut Thomas Pesquet.
Departing from the Boston region (United States) in mid-June aboard a boat specially fitted out for the challenge, Guirec Soudée hopes to reach Brittany as quickly as possible but seems to be heading instead towards the south of the Bay of Biscay, according to his team.
Aged 29, the adventurer from Côtes d’Armor had already paddled the Atlantic from east to west in February. He had moved the general public in 2015 by spending 130 days on the Greenland ice floe alone with his hen Monique.