A Hundred Days of Rowing Solo Across the Atlantic
ABOUT his transatlantic rowing trip, Amyr Klink has written a gripping book, "Cem Dias Entre Ceu e Mar" ("One Hundred Days Between Sky and Sea"). Published in 1985 in Brazil by the Livraria Jose Olympio Editora S.A., the book has never been translated into English. Klink says he hasn't had the time or inclination to think about book contracts.Son of a Lebanese immigrant to Brazil, Klink describes in the book his seaside childhood in Paraty, a colonial town in the state of Rio de Janeiro. It was there that Klink came into contact with books about famous explorers. Klink rowed from Luderitz, Namibia, to Brazil in order to take advantage of ocean currents. The trip brought great personal insight, he says. Birds and fish accompanied his small (less than 20 feet long) wood-and-epoxy hulled boat. Fish warned him, by their absence, of approaching sharks. After 100 days of solo rowing, Klink dropped anchor near the northeast Brazilian city of Salvador. A man in a nearby boat asked him how the fishing had been. "I didn't get anything," Klink answered. "Oh well. That's life," said the man. "Some days you get everything, other days you get nothing. It's like the tide: It goes out, but always comes back."
