A boat that capsized with four US veterans aboard three years ago has quietly crossed the Atlantic without them—and washed up in France, reports the Maritime Executive. The crew members survived the ordeal, but it seemed the 28-foot boat, powered by oars and called the Woobie, was gone for good. However, a commercial fishing crew off western France reported what looked like a drifting "ghost ship" to the Marine Rescue Coordination Center. A recovery team towed the weather-beaten boat into Port La Rochelle, where it was identified as the long-lost Woobie. It will eventually be returned to Mobile, Alabama.
A large wave capsized the Woobie in December 2022 about 700 miles off the west coast of Africa. At the time, it was 16 days into the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, a race that sends rowboats from the Canary Islands to Antigua. The Fight Oar Die team—four US Air Force veterans rowing to raise awareness of veteran mental health—was unable to right the boat and took refuge instead in a life raft, per the Lagniappe of Mobile. The men spent roughly 22 hours in the raft before being picked up by a bulk carrier.
"We almost lost a whole team at sea," says Bryant Knight, founder of the competitive row team. "That would have wrecked us to the core." Knight hopes the boat's condition will help answer questions about that December night and inform safety in what's billed as "the world's toughest row." The annual Talisker challenge, organized by Atlantic Campaigns, sends about 30 boats—each crewed by one to five people—on a 3,000-nautical-mile crossing that can take more than a month and is frequently tied to fundraising campaigns.
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