Two British rowers, Stuart Turnbull and Edward Bayliss, somehow got it in their heads that rowing across the Atlantic Ocean was a good idea. It didn’t turn out to be so great when, after nearly being hit by tankers, losing their speargun, being pounded by gales and 40 ft. waves, they had to be rescued by some Dutch rowers short of their destination.
The two set off from Tenerife, hoping to break the record (40 days) for rowing across the ocean the fastest. To cut down on weight, they gave themselves only 50 days of food rations. 56 days into their adventure, they were down to 1,000 calories a day rations and had to be given more food by a Dutch crew, who were out there doing the same thing.
Now, it was all for a good cause, Cancer Research UK, but they themselves turned out to be the charity cases. You can find out more about their continuing adventures at this Daily Mail site. (Oh, and if you’ve never tried a Jaffa cake…)