A TV documentary about a row across the Atlantic that almost ended in tragedy will be shown tonight, (Friday).
Its director is 36-year-old Aidan Woodward, a former pupil of Robert Piggott Junior School in Wargrave and Reading Blue Coat School in Sonning.
He was brought up in Wargrave and his parents Roy and Ann live in Hamilton Road.
Mr Woodward was making a series about life in the Scilly Isles when he interviewed four friends who agreed over a pint to attempt to break the record for rowing across the Atlantic.
Thirteen days into the row, the 29ft boat was hit by a massive wave. It capsized and the crew were left clinging to the wreckage in freezing, storm-lashed seas for seven hours.
The men were picked up by a passing oil tanker 450 miles off the coast of Massachusetts. "They were incredibly lucky," said Mr Woodward. "Being from the Scilly Isles, the sea is in their blood but the weather was against them and although the boat was supposed to right itself, it didn’t." His film was made from footage of his interviews with the men, a recontruction of what happened and video footage from the boat.
"Incredibly, it was recovered off Newfoundland and we were able to salvage video diaries taken during the row," said Mr Woodward.
* An Island Parish — The Deadly Storm, BBC2, 7pm.
Published on 23 January 2009
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