Rescued rower says he won't try again

He boasted that he had the physical strength, the mental toughness, and the maritime technology to row 3,600 miles across the steely Atlantic, from Cape Cod to France, faster than any human in history. Turns out, Charlie Girard lacked all three.

Just over 50 miles into his row, the 26-year-old Frenchman called for the Coast Guard to rescue him. His boat had rolled over eight times, his back was aching, he was dehydrated, and he was having nightmares.

Responding at sundown to Girard's call for help, the Coast Guard scrubbed a training mission, dispatched a helicopter from Otis Air National Guard Base into the darkening skies, lowered a swimmer into 8-foot seas whipped up by a steady 15 knot wind, and hoisted the beleaguered mariner in a metal bas ket. Girard's $270,000 boat, Caliste, was left to drift at sea.

In rescuing Girard, the Coast Guard was following its credo, "Always Ready."

But others grumbled about the cost to the public of Girard's less-than-heroic row. Five Coast Guard rescuers, an HH-60 Jayhawk, an ambulance, and doctors and nurses at Falmouth Hospital were all involved in ushering Girard back to a friend's home in Orleans, where he was resting comfortably yesterday. The helicopter mission probably cost thousands of dollars, said Admiral Richard G. Gurnon, president of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. The ambulance ride probably cost about $650, said Deputy Fire Chief Richard Hunter of Chatham.

Some said Girard should have known better than to try to row alone to France. Girard has acknowledged that his longest previous row was a six-hour jaunt on a lake near his home in the French Alps.

"These are the kind of people who do exasperate the people in the Coast Guard," said Captain Robert W. Witter, a retired 23-year veteran of the Coast Guard. "They're just out there on a lark, having fun, despite the well-known safety hazards and the huge resources that must be drawn to bear when they have to go out and search for them."

The man whose record Girard was trying to best also required a Coast Guard rescue. In 2003, Emmanuel Coindre of France was two days into his attempt to row across the Atlantic when his boat, Lady Bird, capsized 100 miles east of Chatham. A helicopter crew rushed to save Coindre. It took three weeks to recover his boat, which a fisherman discovered at sea and towed to a Nova Scotia wharf. Coindre set his record the next year.

Yesterday, Girard expressed disappointment with the denouement of his voyage, which he had called Atlantique 2007.

"The sea was very, very hard," he said. "I was very tired, too."

He said he would never try to cross the Atlantic in that rowboat again.

"I'm too scared to try another time," he said. "It was very difficult at night. I think it will take many days to stop the nightmares."

Abandoned along with his dream was the 23-foot Caliste, a custom-built vessel with a global positioning system, an MP3 player, solar panels, and a water purification device. It was bobbing somewhere in the Atlantic, and the Coast Guard said it had no responsibility to tow it to shore. Girard said he was hoping to find a boater to haul it back to the Cape.

"According to the boat's location, it is clearly going with the wind and currents toward Canada," said Kenneth Crutchlow, executive director of Ocean Rowing Society International, who was using satellite data to track the boat's voyage to France and yesterday its listless path northeast. "We can't leave that boat just floating there forever."

Girard, an engineer, spent three years building his boat and six months with a personal trainer. To pay for the boat, he borrowed $81,000 and raised the rest from sponsors.

His initial attempt was launched June 30, when he set off from the Orleans Yacht Club with 100 days worth of condensed milk, cereal bars, and dehydrated snacks. His plan was to break the record set in 2004 for a solo row across the North Atlantic: 62 days, 19 hours, and 48 minutes. But the harbormaster towed him back a few hours later after his boat sprung a leak.

Wednesday at 3:20 p.m., Caliste sailed again.

Girard rowed until about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, when he encountered heavy seas and winds about 50 miles off Provincetown. His boat rolled like a hot dog on a grill.

Girard called Richard Williams, 65, commodore of the Orleans Yacht Club, who was dining at the time with Girard's father and brother. After a 45-minute talk with the three, Girard decided to scrap his mission and asked Williams to call the Coast Guard.

"He was pretty petrified out there," Williams said.

Five Coast Guard rescuers flew 30 minutes until a light in the ocean alerted them to the location of Girard's boat.

"He was thrown around quite a bit and said he slammed into the side of the boat and that his lower back was bothering him," said Petty Officer First Class John Hughes, who inspected Girard aboard the helicopter.

His ego was also bruised.

"He was scared and disappointed," said Byron Johnson, 35, a Canadian Air Force captain who copiloted the helicopter. "There was obviously a lot of work he put into this, and it didn't work out for him."

Girard was brought to Falmouth and released a few hours later.

"I am seasick and dehydrated, scared, some injuries, but I'm alive," Girard wrote in an e-mail to supporters.

Yesterday, Girard's father and brother flew to France. Girard said he will follow them soon.

But first, he plans to send an e-mail to an American who is attempting a similar trip at the end of the month. His message: "be careful."

Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.