Brave Wicklow brothers to row across 3,000 miles across Atlantic Ocean in memory of late sibling

Arklow brothers Eamon And Andrew Breen will be undertaking the gruelling 3,000-mile journey rowing for 2 hours, sleeping for 2 hours, 24 hours a day for 40 days

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Two Wicklow brothers determined to row across the Atlantic Ocean in memory of their late sibling.

Eamon and Andrew Breen, both in their early 40s, will be making the challenging 3,000-mile journey in a seven-metre-long and one-metre-wide rowing boat for a good cause. The Arklow men want to raise €100,000 for two charities, Make-A-Wish Ireland and FireLight.

Eamon told Dublin Live: "Our eldest brother died of cot death after 10 weeks in 1975. We've obviously never met him but we were wondering how we could bring him with us. We found that the Sudden Infant Death Association has a charity arm called First Life.

"We named the boat Rory as well. We’ll bring Rory across with us and help people who have unfortunately been affected by the bereavement of young children."

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Eamon said they wanted to pick another charity due to scale of the challenge and decided to fundraise for Make-A-Wish Ireland which grants the wishes of children with terminal illnesses to give them hope and joy.

The brothers will be kicking off the journey as part of an annual race called World's Toughest Row - Atlantic on December 13 from the Canary Islands in Spain. The duo will alternate between rowing for 2 hours, sleeping for 2 hours, 24 hours a day for 40 days.

Eamon said: "Andrew is the rower of the two of us. He's been doing it for the last 20-odd years." When asked how they came up with the idea to take part in the race, Eamon said it all started with an inconspicuous Facebook post.

He said: "Three years ago, Andrew put up a little post on Facebook commenting on someone who was about to do it. He said he wanted to do it at some stage and I commented saying, ‘Sure, I’ll do it with you’."

"And that was me signed up," he laughed. Since then, both the brothers have undertaken a huge amount of preparation for the gruelling journey.

Eamon said the duo have had to undergo a several procedures, checklists, certificates, and safety courses. "There are a huge amount of logistics, kits, training, and preparation involved as we're doing it as part of an organised race.

"We have to give the organisers the comfort that we're fully prepared for the race," he explained. While Andrew has been doing off-shore rowing for 20-odd years, Eamon only took up the hobby in November 2020 after signing up for the race.

Speaking about the challenge, Eamon said there will be 43 unsupported boats leaving La Gomera on December 12. He said: "Our boat will have everything we need to get to the other side."

Eamon and Andrew will carry packets of dehydrated food and a lot of snacks on their journey. Their boat will be equipped with a machine called the Water Maker that turns saltwater potable.

They will also carry safety equipment like GPS and satellite phones in case of emergency. Eamon said: "There are two yachts that sail around the fleet but they will be hours, sometimes even days away. We will fall within the standard marine rules where if you’re in proper distress, the nearest boat under maritime law must come to you."

Depending on the size of the team and other variables including the weather conditions, boats will take anywhere from 30 to 50 days to reach their goal, Antigua, a 10-mile wide island in the Bahamas. When asked how they'll keep themselves entertained on the vast ocean, Eamon chuckled and said: "A mix of talking to yourself and Spotify and Audible. We'll carry speakers with us for music, audiobooks, and podcasts.

"So, we’ll be listening to stuff, talking between ourselves when we see each other."

The brothers will be hosting two events in the upcoming days to raise funds for the two charities. They will be at the Dundrum Shopping Centre this Saturday, September 2, with charity buckets, their boat, and a rowing machine. Eamon said: "We’ll have a challenge for locals or anyone who’s around to see how many metres they can row in a minute."

There will be a similar event taking place in Arklow, Co Wicklow at Bridgewater Shopping Centre on October 7.

You can donate to help support their cause on the iDonate website. You can Eamon and Andrew's adventures on their Instagram page.

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