Team Northern Atlantic 2011

James Caple (Rower)

My sister-in-law gave me David W. Shaw’s book, ‘Daring the Sea’, as a Christmas gift one year: a book about the first ocean rowers, Harbo and Samuelson, who rowed across the North Atlantic in 1896. The following summer, my family and I went to the beach in Rehoboth, Delaware. Each day, while watching my kids play in the sand and listening to the surf, I read more and more about Harbo and Samuelson’s first ever row across the Northern Atlantic. As a competitive rower myself, I became entranced with the idea that human beings could actually row across the ocean! The following summer, I saw a news blurb on Yahoo about Roz Savage and her attempt to row the Pacific. Heretofore unheard of by me, I suddenly discovered the existence of an entire burgeoning community of Ocean Rowers, most of which were in the UK and France. Suddenly, my own personal quest to share similar ocean rowing adventures began to take root.

So why do I want to row an ocean? That’s a deeply personal question and those who share similar desires have uniquely different reasons. I imagine I share many of the same selfish reasons as Harbo and Samuelson: the quest for illusive fame, fortune and adventure; the desire to leave my mark on the world in as many ways as possible. This quote from Bernard Moitessier, however, also resonates with me:

“You do not ask a tame seagull why it needs to disappear from time to time toward the open sea. It goes, that’s all, and it is as simple as a ray of sunshine, as normal as the blue of sky.”

I graduated from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, in 1991, where I took up rowing my sophomore year. I then went on to graduate from Boston University where I studied International Relations.  I currently live and work in the Washington DC area as a Software Engineer.

Mike Altarace (Rower)

Growing up in the port city of Haifa almost all my free time was spent in or around the Mediterranean. Fishing, snorkeling and later rowing and sailing with the Haifa Sea Scouts chapter were my favorite activities.  Even though many years have passed its safe to say I have a bit of salt water running in my veins. I love the smell and sound of the sea and will not miss an opportunity to get out on a boat.

I’ve always dreamed of sailing the oceans with my family for an extended period of time. I think it will be a great eye-opener for my three girls and will also toughen them up a bit. And so, when James suggested the idea of rowing across the Atlantic I figured there is no better introduction to the ocean than that. Enduring through this challenge will help put future sailing experiences in a much lighter perspective.

I left Israel when I was 23.  I lived for three years in South Korea where I met my wife and in 1999 we moved to the US where I completed a computer science degree with the University of Maryland University College. We now live in northern Virginia where I currently work for a software company as a Senior Systems engineer.