Paul Lore and Dawn Smith readily admit that some people think they are, well, crazy.
And some days they agree.
But for Lore, 63, who lives in Fernandina Beach, and Smith, 49, from Burnham on Crouch in England, the lure of rowing a small boat across a big ocean is a pull they cannot resist. The peace of calm waters, the challenges of stormy seas, the triumph of reaching the other side and raising funds for their favorite charities along the way have led each of them to tackle multiple transoceanic crossings.
“It’s an unusual thing to to do,” Smith said with a laugh. Even loved ones, she said, “think we’re absolutely bonkers.”
After months of training, they are about to embark on another expedition on a specially designed 26-foot row boat named “Penny B.” On June 25 — Smith turns 50 that day — they will begin an approximately 2,500-mile, 50-day row across the Atlantic Ocean from Newfoundland, Canada, to Smith’s hometown in the United Kingdom.
It will be the second leg of the duo’s Hometown Row, which began in December 2025 with a 3,000-mile row from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua. They were one of many teams taking part in the World’s Toughest Row and set a world record — the fastest mixed pair to row across the Atlantic east to west, with a time of 42 days, four hours and 19 minutes.
Smith also set two individual world records: most ocean rowing crossings, with six to her name, and most ocean miles rowed by a female, about 13,000.
But they didn’t find out about the records until later. So when they arrived at Antigua in January 2026, their emotions were the same ones they experience at the end of any long row.
“It is really an amazing feeling,” Lore said. “Another rower … put a post out about the same thing and she said, I wish I can just put it in a bottle. I definitely concur with her because it’s really the most amazing accomplishment, I think, that you can give to yourself, but then also to your teammate. Because you didn’t do it by yourself.”
But credit goes to many more people than the two on the boat, they said.
“You also realize … it really wasn’t the two of us and it really was a community,” he said, citing support for their respective rows from family, friends and partners in the U.S. and England. Some of those supporters were in Antigua to welcome Lore and Smith back on land and others watched their arrival via livestream.
“You start realizing all the things that have made it a success and it just brings the biggest smile,” Lore said.
The initial second leg — a February row from Antigua back to Fernandina Beach — was canceled because of poor weather conditions. So now Lore and Smith prepare to head for Canada to complete their latest journey, which, unlike the World’s Toughest Row, will be independent with no safety team shadowing them on the water.
“It creates more challenges like shipping, staging, creating our own safety team,” Lore said. “We will have our own coordination safety team. They will just be land-based.”
Hooked on rowing
Lore and Smith met in 2023 when both were participating in a Pacific Ocean row with different crews.
Lore is a retired Marine and air traffic controller who is now an ordained minister, among other things. Smith is a retired police boat skipper who now runs a sea school, providing training for ocean rowing, seamanship and maritime navigation. She also has a British Empire Medal for her maritime service.
And they are hooked on ocean rowing.
Being in the middle of an ocean in a rowboat, Smith said, is like a sense of freedom.
“You are away from everyday life. I mean, it’s hard out there, it’s hard. You’ve got to put up with the conditions, the rain, the winds, the cold, sometimes the extreme heat,” she said. “But life is actually a lot more simple because you’ve not got business to deal with, or emails or telephone calls to make. Your life consists of eating some food, rowing the boat, looking after yourself, looking after the boat, looking after each other and that’s it.”
The first leg had its challenges, including “massive, massive waves” one night that knocked the boat on its side. At the time, Smith said, she was in the cabin “being rattled around like you’re inside a washing machine” and Lore was rowing.
The boat was so far over on its side “that Paul was literally in the water,” she said.
But peaceful waters can also be difficult.
“Days when there is no wind, you are hauling that boat through the water … no wind assistance at all,” Smith said. “So it looks beautiful. But you are … lugging that boat. It’s like dragging it down the street without any wheels on it.”
Lore said, “I think an ideal day is …maybe a good, nice 15-knot wind following behind you with maybe … 5-, even 10-foot seas. That’s a beautiful day.”
But that ideal day, he said with a laugh, “never really happens.”
That first leg was the “wettest” row either had undertaken, Lore said, with “relentless rain.” And it was his first ocean row with thunderstorms and lightning.
But for ocean rowers, hindsight has rose-colored glasses.
“The row always gets better every day that you’re away from it,” Lore said. “The first day, it’s really good, but then the second day, it’s even better, and then, you know, it’s just like storytelling. You forget all the little things, like … going to the bathroom in the bucket and getting up in the middle of the night in a rainstorm.”
The notion of being the fastest mixed pair was not even on their minds as they rowed across the ocean.
“We didn’t set off to win anything. Our goals were to be amazing friends at the start and at the finish, to look after each other, to have a great row, to put in as much effort as we could,” Smith said. “That was kind of our team charter, if you like.”
They did accomplish those goals, particularly maintaining their friendship.
“I think one of the things that made it for us was, every single day, we made a point of sitting on deck together … and we just chat about how the day’s gone, how you’re feeling, or we just laugh about something, or make a funny video.” Smith said. “It’s just about being kind and considering each others’ feelings.”
For some rowers, “the conditions sometimes can manifest” and bring out the worst in people, Lore said, “if it’s not good, or it’s just starting to weigh on them.”
Months of preparation ahead of time strengthened Lore and Smith’s bond.
“There are big tasks to do before you’re actually in the ocean. It all doesn’t go smoothly,” Lore said. “You gotta kind of work with each other’s personalities … We’ve never lost that kind of respect that it’ll get done. Yeah. It might not get done the way I would have done it … but it just gets done. I think we even exhibit that on the ocean.”
They didn’t find out about the world record until three days after the trip. At breakfast that morning, Lore checked mixed-pair times and exclaimed, “I think we’re the fastest.”
Race organizers later confirmed the feat, prompting the duo to return to the event podium and take photos with the world record banner.
Rowing for a cause
In addition to the lure of the ocean, Lore and Smith are rowing to raise money for charities that support veterans — primarily Phoenix Heroes in England, which gives veterans access to outdoor activities to improve mental health, and K9s for Warriors in Ponte Vedra Beach, which trains service dogs for veterans who have PTSD, among other things.
“Supporters like Paul Lore, a United States Marine veteran himself, embody the spirit of service that drives our mission,” K9s for Warriors CEO Daniel Bean said. “The fact that he is willing to row across an ocean — not once, but multiple times — to raise awareness and funds for our nation’s veterans and service dogs is both humbling and inspiring.
“Paul has dedicated countless hours, energy and determination to helping us end veteran suicide and that kind of unwavering commitment creates an impact that reaches far beyond the finish line,” Bean said. “We are incredibly grateful for Paul’s continued support and wish him a safe crossing, fair winds and following seas and much success as he undertakes another extraordinary journey.”
Lore is also fundraising for Yulee and Fernadina Beach high schools’ Hope Squad, a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program.
“It was really an opportunity … to use it for inspiration for young kids,” Lore said.
To donate to Hometown Row, go to oarsomeadventures.com/sponsor-a-mile-hr/ to sponsor a mile of their trip from Canada to the United Kingdom or to oarsomeadventures.com/our-causes-hr to donate to one of the charities they support.
bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Meet the record-breaking Nassau County, UK duo rowing the Atlantic
Reporting by Beth Reese Cravey, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Beth Reese Cravey, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
