On December 26, 2022, Lithuanian traveller Aurimas Valujavičius set off on the biggest journey of his life. His goal is to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 110 days in a single rowing boat. Valujavičius’ journey commemorates the 90th anniversary of the flight of Lithuanian pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas across the Atlantic Ocean. If successful, he will become the first Lithuanian and only the third person in the world to complete such a journey.
“It’s unique. This is the only trip not only for me but also for Lithuania. I cannot imagine a more beautiful and magnificent commemoration of the flight of Darius and Girėnas across the Atlantic,” Valujavičius explained his motivation before the journey. After setting off from Spain, he also hopes to reach the US Florida shore in mid-April to break the world record.
“So far, everything I expected from the Atlantic is happening. The wind, the waves, and the routine are just as I imagined. A few days of unfavourable winds slowed down my progress, but now, I manage to sail around 74 kilometres a day,” Valujavičius shared his experience after the first ten days in the ocean.
He is usually rowing for 14 hours a day and is most often accompanied by larger ships and animals on his solo journey. “I’ve seen dolphins a few times, and every day, I meet a passing container ship. Sometimes, there are birds flying around to keep [me] company,” Valujavičius explains.
At the beginning of the journey, however, the traveller was afflicted with seasickness. “But I’m fine now. I don’t feel any symptoms of seasickness anymore. I just need to eat more, but somehow, I don’t feel like it. According to the plan, I should consume about 7500 to 8000 calories a day,” Valujavičius says. Consuming the right amount of calories is essential to give him enough energy for rowing in the open ocean every day. Also, about 150 kilograms of food is packed in his traveller’s boat, so consuming more of it would make it lighter and allow him to row faster.
During his first days in the ocean, Valujavičius had to battle headwinds. “On the last day of 2022 and the first day of 2023, a strong wind began to blow at 13 to 18 knots. […] There was no point in fighting such a wind and wasting energy, so I threw the parachute anchor, but it only slowed down my boat,” he said. “I wasn’t happy about it, but I accepted it as a challenge posed by nature and was not going to let it break me. I ate and rested, gathering energy for the moment when I would be able to row again,” Valujavičius adds.
Finally, he received the good news that on the night of January 2, the wind would again be suitable for sailing. After consulting with his fitness coach, he altered his strict daily routine to make the most of the favourable conditions. “Normally, I’m up at 6:00 and row intermittently until 23:00. But when I heard about the wind changing suddenly at night, I got in touch with my coach, and we adapted this strict routine. I started rowing at 3:00 and, with lunch and nap breaks, finished at 21:00,” he remembers.
Although he is travelling solo, Niall Bates from France, who rowed across the Atlantic in 2017, is an essential part of his journey, as he sends daily messages with weather conditions to Valujavičius and maps out the route. The Lithuanian is filming his journey and is planning to make a documentary film scheduled to premiere in Lithuanian cinemas in January 2024.
“The boat is also equipped with a GPS that sends my coordinates every few hours, so that anyone who wants to can see, in real time, how I’m doing,” the traveller said.
You can follow Valujavičius’ journey here: https://eur-share.explore.garmin.com/VALUJAVICIUS.
