We can only wish him the best of luck. The third time may be the charm.

NYC rower tries for third time to cross Atlantic

There is something about the sea that has caused Victor Mooney to lose all reason.

For years now, the 45-year-old New Yorker has believed that for all its vastness, the Atlantic Ocean is ripe for conquest; That a lone man pulling a pair of oars can shove off an African beach and slowly, steadily, row partway around the globe to New York harbor.

This is an idea he has refused to relinquish, despite repeated failure. When the 24-foot wooden rowboat he built by hand for his first trans-Atlantic attempt in 2006 sank just hours into his trip from Senegal, he went out and got another, built by a professional. When that boat’s drinking water systems failed two weeks into his 2nd attempt in 2009, necessitating a rescue, he chalked it up to bad luck, rather than fate telling him “No.”

Now, he is trying again.

Mooney departed from a marina in the Cape Verdean islands at about 7:30 a.m. Saturday, according to the local port captain. He pointed his bow west toward the Caribbean, and if his luck holds, and his latest boat remains afloat, and his back stays strong, and he doesn’t go mad with loneliness, he plans to land in Brooklyn in six to eight months.

Thanks to the lovely Bowsprite for passing the story along.