Octogenarian Anthony Smith’s journey was originally inspired by both the Kontiki Expedition of Thor Heyerdahl (who he knew) and the incredible story of the survivors of a 1940 boat disaster, who spent 70 days adrift in the Atlantic, eventually reaching land emaciated and close to death.
While this might sound like a voyage no-one would wish to emulate, to octogenarian Anthony Smith it sounded like an adventure.
He placed a typically straightforward advertisement in the Telegraph that read “Fancy rafting across the Atlantic? Famous traveller requires 3 crew. Must be OAP. Serious adventurers only.”