Despite a devastating interruption, a Nassau County ocean rower and his British captain have set three world records in their latest expedition — and they haven't even finished the 2,500-mile trip yet.
Paul Lore, 63, who lives in Fernandina Beach, and Dawn Smith, 50, from Burnham-on-Crouch in England, rowed from Newfoundland, Canada across the North Atlantic in a specially designed 26-foot boat named "Penny B." The cause was to raise funds for charities that support veterans.
They departed June 26 and set records at sea Aug. 15 before reaching the end point of Smith's hometown. She now holds the women's record for the most ocean rows at seven — she set the previous record of six — and the greatest total distance rowed at 16,815 miles. And she and Lore
are the first mixed pair to row the north Atlantic from west to east.
"They have been given those records by the Guinness Book of World Records. Paul is a beast, but Dawn is now officially the most prolific female ocean rower of all time, which is incredible," according to a spokeswoman for the Ocean Rowing Society International, the governing body of "human-power open-water ocean exploration and adjudicator of Guinness World Records."
After a short recovery period, the pair next began rowing through the English Channel to get to the river Crouch and Smith's hometown, Burnham on Crouch. But when they arrived at Salcomb Devon, about 350 natutical miles from Burnham on Crouch, they pondered the weather forecast and decided "to stay put … for the next few days and reassess from there," according to a post on their team Facebook page.
When they finally arrive at Smith's hometown, "it will be quite a reception for her," the society spokeswoman said.
The world records were set off Newlyn, United Kingdom, after the pair had rowed to within a nautical mile of land. They received a tow to shore, drained and sleep-deprived after rowing against a strong tide that sent them backward rather than forward.
Smith wrote on Facebook that she was "exhausted, emotional and devastated."
"We rowed so hard to beat the tide, and made it just 2 miles short of an anchor spot, but again the tide got the better of us and we got sent backwards no matter how hard we rowed," she wrote. "We were not rescued, we were not in imminent danger, we simply accepted a tow which was the sensible thing to do."
But they later discovered that they had already made history.
"We rowed across the North Atlantic in some of the toughest conditions I’ve ever experienced. Headwinds, counter currents, fog, rain … broken oars and relentless three-hour shifts — and through it all we kept going," Smith wrote on in a Substack blog post.
"After how I felt … following our arrival in Newlyn, having the governing body confirm that the subsequent tow was insignificant to the completed ocean crossing has completely put that moment to bed," she said. "The ocean was crossed. The finish line was crossed. The records stand. Pretty amazing news."
The records were set after Smith and Lore rowed 48 days, 7 hours, 47 minutes and 55 seconds on the official trip clock.
"How did we just row across the Atlantic to England," Lore wrote on his Facebook page. "I’m in awe of the endurance and spirit of the human heart and what it can achieve. More importantly I’m in awe of the collective strength and effort of all those that help us along the way.
"The one massive lesson that I have learned from this journey is that people really love helping each other out. Another massive lesson … and probably the most profound lesson, you are not alone and you can’t do everything by yourself," he wrote. "Success is driven as a collective efforts of everyone."
Lore and Smith's background
The North Atlantic is 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.
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.
Their fundraising causes are 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.
Beth Reese Cravey has been a reporter for The Florida Times-Union for 45 years, currently specializing in nonprofits and health. She can be reached at bcravey@jacksonville.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Nassau County, UK rowers set records on epic North Atlantic journey
