Perth broker becomes first person to solo row from Australia to Africa

While seven people have rowed between the two continents before, no rower has done it unassisted and without stopping at land en route.

Mr Barton, who aims to raise $300,000 for Zero2Hero – a Western Australia-based youth mental health charity – completed his challenge on Thursday (20 July) nearly three months ahead of schedule.

While he had originally intended to make land in Dar es Salaam, strong currents and high winds meant he had to change his final location to the port city of Tanga, instead.

His Guinness World Records challenge will now go through adjudication before being confirmed.

The 58-year-old began his voyage on 26 April, setting off from Carnarvon in Western Australia and rowing between 10 and 15 hours a day. For the past few days, he had ramped this up to up to 20 hours a day.

Despite never having completed an extensive row before, he decided to undertake the world record challenge to push his boundaries and raise funds for Zero2Hero.

According to the broker’s fundraising page, the cause is close to his heart after his daughter Jess experienced depression and anxiety and experienced suicide ideation.

Speaking to The Adviser via satellite phone for the Elite Broker podcast last month, Mr Barton said he had faced several challenges along the way, including several capsizes, severe (and prolonged) seasickness, chafing sores, and stress fractures. He has also had several technical issues with his communication systems and with different parts of his rowboat over the course of the 12 weeks.

However, he said he stayed positive by focusing on why he was doing it: “The number one thing for me right now, the focus, is all about raising money for Zero2Hero … And a lot of brokers I know already have, so to those guys: thank you very much. Brokers I know have already been on there and donated.

“But for anyone who would like to contribute, I have a $300,000 fundraising targets to hit that I’d really, really, really like support from the broking community to get there. That would be fantastic.”

Writing on his Facebook blog before he made land (20 July), Mr Barton said: “About halfway between Zanzibar and Tanzania the coast of Tanzania started to become visible in the haze. I was so excited and it gave me a boost of energy for a while as I mentally jumped around.

“Even though I had a full night’s sleep, I found that I tired quickly and was even falling asleep at the oars. I am pretty exhausted and not expecting to get more than four or five hours’ sleep tonight as I need to be off early in the morning if I am to make [it] before the sea breeze kicks in...

“It will be interesting to see the coast in daylight, and it is so exciting to have finally arrived in Tanzania. Now I just need to get to the finish line!”

Speaking of the Money Quest Group member’s achievement, the managing director of the aggregator, Michael Russell, said: “The enormity of what Rob has accomplished is difficult to comprehend, let alone articulate.

“This unimaginable feat speaks volumes about Rob’s physical and mental strength, and his commitment to raising awareness and funds for youth mental health. I’m sure I’m not alone in now eagerly awaiting the postscript to his epic adventure.”

You can learn more about Rob Barton’s Australia2Africa row in the Elite Broker podcast. Tune in to the episode with Mr Barton, recorded while he was in the midst of this challenge, here.

You can donate to Rob Barton’s Australia2Africa row on the Zero2Hero website and see the video of him finishing his row, below:

[Related: Perth broker attempts to become 1st person to row non-stop to Africa]