UL civic reception for Killaloe rower

An experienced member of the Killaloe Coast Guard Unit will be officially honoured for completing a 5,000km row across the Atlantic Ocean with a civic reception hosted in the University of Limerick’s White House over the coming weeks.

It will be hosted by University of Limerick president, Professor Don Barry to honour the achievement of Mike Jones, who was part of an international crew, who recently completed the gruelling trip.
Mike became the first member of the Irish Coast Guard unit and the seventh Irishman to achieve the feat.
The voyage, which took 57 days and 20 hours, started from the Port de Plaisance Marina in Agadir and finished in Port St Charles, Barbados, and was an attempt to row the Atlantic from east to west on the traditional trade wind route.
The trip was the first to use Agadir as a start port for an ocean row and was only the second ever ocean rowing voyage to start from a Moroccan port, as 213 ocean rowing trips have left from the Canary Islands.
Two charities, Milford Care Centre, Limerick and Marymont Hospice, Cork, will also benefit from Mike’s adventure.
Having set a target to raise €25,000, half of all the money raised will go to the charities and the remainder will go towards covering the cost of the trip, which is expected to be in the region of €15,000.
Mike, who also works as the full-time operations manager with the University of Limerick Activity Centre (ULAC) at Ballycuggeran, Killaloe, joined the crew of five men and one woman, which was skippered by Matt Craughwell, United Kingdom and also included Mylène Paquette, Canada; Pedro Cunha, Sweden; Peter Williams, Cork and James Kenworthy, England.
Mike, a keen outdoor enthusiast, sailor and adventurer, applied for the crew, even though he had never rowed before.
“I’d had the idea in mind for a few years but I figured I’d have a year or two to learn how to row. However, last September the opportunity came up and it seemed like the right time.
“I was very fortunate in my line of work to have the backing from my employers, the University of Limerick Sport Department and to have access to the renowned sporting facilities of the university, including the new boat house, which hosts Ireland’s only indoor rowing tank.
“I am delighted to have completed this challenge and I have to say I enjoyed almost every moment of it. There were so many highs and, of course, some lows but it was an amazing experience and something I am delighted to have achieved,” he said.
Peter Williams, second in command on the boat, said, “Mike was selected on the basis of his seamanship skills and his determination to complete the crossing”.
The crew’s boat, Sara G, was a specially designed ocean rowing boat that had already been rowed from New Zealand to Australia in 2007. The boat has three rowing positions on the deck, thus catering for a crew of six – three rowing, while three rest. The shift pattern was set at a gruelling two hours on/two hours off regime, meaning each crew member rowed for 12 hours a day.
The boat contained a complete inventory of modern safety, communication and navigation equipment. Peter describes the vessel as “a fast, slick ocean rowing boat with all the equipment of a modern yacht. The only difference between our boat and a yacht is that we didn’t have a sail or engine to help us along – just our strength and determination to reach Barbados.”