EXHAUSTED and broken after 35 days and 33 minutes at sea, Charlie Pitcher arrived in Barbados having smashed the world record for the fastest solo crossing of the Atlantic in a rowing boat.
The Felsted oarsman pulled into Port St Charles last Wednesday having knocked five days off the previous time – beating illness, capsizes and loneliness to arrive triumphant.
"As I pulled into the yacht club there was my wife Emma looking at me from 100m away – it was a complete surprise to see her there," said Charlie.
"Then out popped my two little boys, James and Freddie. I couldn't hold my tears back and the flood gates erupted as I was reunited with them. It was just amazing.
"I stepped ashore and all behind me was forgotten, my exhaustion, my journey and my thoughts."
He added: "For the next few hours we all had a jolly good time, beer flowing, fantastic cooking from the kitchens and many kind words and laughs."
Charlie and his family, who were flown to the island by his sponsors, stayed in a luxury Caribbean villa while the record-breaker recovered.
He returns to the UK tonight (Thursday) but told the Chronicle before jetting back: "My body is really sore, but I'm so happy at the same time. I'm so pleased that I managed to fly the Essex flag as I was arriving in Port St Charles.
"Now we're staying in this incredible villa which is apparently 100m down from Simon Cowell's property and a few feet from the beach. We even have our own private chef – which is amazing."
The luxury surroundings are a stark contrast to Charlie's five weeks alone at sea in his 6.5m long boat, called Soma, the most technologically-advanced ocean rower ever built.
Just three weeks before his ecstatic arrival into Barbados, Charlie found himself pushed to the limit when the weather turned against him.
But he is no stranger to the inherent frustrations of the trip having already completed a record-breaking solo race in 2010. But this was beaten in 2012 spurring Mr Pitcher to row again to beat the record of 40 days, nine hours and 44 minutes
The 50-year-old said: "I was de-hydrated from bad vomiting and lying down in 36 degrees, trying to take in more liquid with electrolytes as I couldn't hold any food down.
"My body was pushed to the limit before I even hit the adverse conditions, but the brain took over, pumping the body with big pain killers and off we went into the night without stopping.
"Then my body crashed, the brain got upset and all I could do was recover. It took another 24 hours to get the painkillers out of my system and stop vomiting."
But illness and dehydration were not Charlie's only challenge as unpredictable weather conditions created further hazards on day 13 of the trip.
"My boat was rolled upside down, but immediately self-righted and a water bottle was all that was lost," he said.
