Rower 'would do it all again'
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HE survived mountainous seas, sweltering heat, brutal storms and even a shark attacking his boat.
But, ironically, the closest Duncan Hutchison came to death was from the ship that rescued him after rowing more than 3400 miles across the Atlantic.
Now back at home in Lochinver, Mr Hutchison says he will make another attempt – if his beloved abandoned boat is found and he can raise the £10,000 to mount the bid.
But he also gave an emotional account of how he came perilously close to disaster with the vessel that came to save him.
He was just feet from the bitumen tanker's giant propeller and in danger of being swept under the 37,087-tonne boat.
He was also "flung over the side underwater" hanging onto a safety wire, fearing he would be swept away to his death.
Mr Hutchison was picked up by the 590ft-long Asphalt Splendor on September 22 – more than 1000 miles from his home village destination after his vital on-board electrics failed. The rescue came on Mr Hutchison's 100th day at sea in his boat Sleipnir and 863 miles from Land's End.
His 23ft boat is lost at sea after the Asphalt Splendor's tow rope broke.
"I feel part of me is lost with her," said Mr Hutchison.
"I think, given the currents etc., she will probably be taken west of the Outer Hebrides and end up in Norway, maybe in four or five months time.
"If she is found – and somebody is prepared to fund it – I would try again. I would not build another boat. It would only be in Sleipnir. She proved she was up to the task. I felt fine, physically and mentally. It was just the electrics – and that was the bit I was worried about most failing. I would get somebody else to put them in next time."
Mr Hutchison got the idea for the row when he was building his wooden boat three-and-a-half years ago.
"I was building a skiff for rowing and I noticed on the internet it had almost the same dimensions as an ocean rower, so then I thought why not row across the Atlantic! I wanted to also prove that ordinary people like me can do extraordinary things," he said.
Mr Hutchison mainly trained on a rowing machine on the oil rigs he worked on as a rope technician, though he had a few voyages in Sleipnir, including a 50-mile row.
But not everything went to plan when he began his Atlantic journey.
Mr Hutchison was taken off his craft on June 4 in a fierce storm 20 miles off New Jersey – and just four days after setting off from New York.
"I wish I hadn't called the coastguard now," he said.
"I think in hindsight I would have been all right. At no point did I feel like giving up, but that was the closest – when I had to abandon the boat. I was at the point of coming home and then the boat turned up."
After a frantic search and appeal to ships and aircraft, Sleipner was located at Ocean City, 133 miles further south from where it was set adrift.
Mr Hutchison set off again on his long voyage to his home from Whale Creek Marina, Strathmere, New Jersey, on June 15.
However, it proved a battle of endurance. For every two miles Mr Hutchison paddled towards Lochinver, he had to row nearly three to get back on course.
In fact by the time he was rescued he had rowed 3416 miles – 150 miles more than his direct route to his destination.
Even though on a few days he managed more than 100 miles, Mr Hutchison greatly underestimated the time he would take to cover the journey. At first he thought he would get across "the pond" in 90-100 days. He was rescued on his 100th day at sea.
"Some days I went backwards," said Mr Hutchison.
"I faced seas of six to seven metres, winds of up to 42 knots and temperatures of over 30C. But I never felt worried or scared. I was happy with my own company. I had audio books and films too.
"I even had an 8ft shark visit. I heard it banging against the rudder. I was in the water only the day before cleaning the boat.
"I also had four whales go under the boat – one caught a fish just a foot away – and the boat rocked a bit. I was more scared they would break the oars."
Father-of-three Mr Hutchison also restricted satellite calls to his wife Marianne, but texted family for football scores and his father Willie provided weather information.
He also allowed himself an occasional treat of a slice of a Christmas cake baked by friend Dawn Healy. He had two slices left when he was rescued "so I thought I better eat both of them before I go".
The Scot said he had enough food – mainly dehydrated meals and bean sprouts grown on board – to last another month. However, the electrical failure not only disabled his communications and course plotter but his drinking water making equipment.
Mr Hutchison – who celebrated his 53rd birthday during his epic row – passed the half-way mark towards his destination on August 6.
But almost six weeks later disaster struck.
He called his wife to explain the situation and set off an emergency beacon.
Then the tanker arrived and Mr Hutchison's log revealed: "Finally got heaving line. Tried to fasten and drifted down aft of vessel and for a horrible few minutes, about 20ft from big propellers, Sleipnir lunges in deep over on side. Thought it was going over and under aft of cargo vessel but deck filled over both gunnels and I was lucky the rope broke and drifted off to safety."
Mr Hutchison has raised £33,000 for WaterAid.
He added: "I think I've come to realise what we don't need in life and how important it is to work with nature."
