A GAELIC TV presenter is hoping to raise £100,000 for charity by rowing from New York to Stornoway.
Niall Iain Macdonald, who lives on Lewis, will become the first person to undertake the route and will have to row for 12 hours every day for three months to cover the 3400 miles when he starts at the end of May.
Mr Macdonald has suffered depression in the past and hopes to raise £100,000 for the Scottish Association for Mental Health.
His journey will take him east, roughly following a course of 40 degrees north latitude before beginning to head north-east towards the UK, taking advantage of the Gulf Stream, and subsequently the North Atlantic Drift.
Mr Macdonald said: “Only 10 people have successfully rowed solo from west to east across the North Atlantic – more people have walked on the moon – and no-one has ever completed the route that I am undertaking.
“I have decided to try to get all the way back to Stornoway as I feel the fact I am rowing home will keep me going.”
Mr Macdonald said the furthest he had rowed the boat so far was from Stornoway to Ullapool and back again, which he had done twice in the summer.
This week he is taking the 7.2-yard boat round Scotland, including Glasgow, as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.
On his voyage, he will have a satellite phone with him which will be charged by solar panels on the boat.
“I have a small valve at the bottom of the boat to let water into a compartment which then feeds into this water maker which takes the salt out, leaving drink-able water.
“If that breaks I have a hand-operated one, and if that breaks I have 150 litres of fresh water which is my ballast. If there is a problem with that, I then call for help.”
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