MAKING international headlines last week was the epic achievement of four female scullers who landed in Australia at the end of a 281-day, 13 600km trans-Pacific Ocean crossing.
The quartet raised a large sum of money for the charities Walking with the Wounded and Breast Cancer Care
The brave British quartet rowed their pink four-seater boat ‘Doris’ from San Francisco to Queensland, Australia, stopping only twice – Hawaii and Samoa.
Among the welcoming party at the Cairns marina on Monday was Suzanne Smith (nee Savides), a member of the Cairns Rowing Club.
Suzanne had been following the progress of the charity fundraising expedition as manager of the club’s Facebook page, through which she also made contact with Capetonian Lizaan van Vuuren, who rowed the Hawaii to Samoa leg.
‘Lizaan asked if we could row out to meet them, which was all good…until the tide and currents decided otherwise.
‘Their arrival was delayed overnight and we couldn’t get crews out at the new time, so a few of us from the rowing club went out in a tinny to escort them in,’ said Suzanne.
‘When I met them at the press conference, I invited them to come for a row – you can just imagine their response!’
