A cheque for over £100,000 has been presented to the IW Red Squirrel Trust after an Isle of Wight man became the third oldest person in history to row unassisted across the Atlantic.

As previously reported by the County Press, Simon Howes, 67, left Puerto Rico in Gran Canaria on January 16 and travelled over 3,000 miles across 72 days, arriving in Rodney Bay in the Caribbean island of St Lucia on March 29.

As part of Simon’s challenge, he has been raising money for the IW Red Squirrel Trust (IWRST) to help create a sanctuary for our favourite furry friends. 

Isle of Wight County Press: Simon Howes presenting the cheque to Helen Butler, chair of the IW Red Squirrel TrustSimon Howes presenting the cheque to Helen Butler, chair of the IW Red Squirrel Trust (Image: Contributions)

The presentation of a £100,000.16 cheque happened last night (Wednesday, October 18) after Simon finished a winter talk about his row at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club.

  • Fundraising for the IWRST Woodland project remains open, and donations can still made using the JustGiving link on Simon’s website. 

Staggeringly, the donations all came from friends, family and the public, with no corporate support or sponsorship whatsoever.

Isle of Wight County Press: Red squirrels had already got a hold of the cheque before it was presented to Helen!Red squirrels had already got a hold of the cheque before it was presented to Helen! (Image: Contributions)

After completing his oar-some row, Simon told St Lucia TV station DBSTV: “I am a very unsporty sort of guy, I’m not some big muscle man or anything like that, I’m Mr Normal.

“I went through a few storms off the coast of Africa where there really were 40ft waves – and that caused a few problems – on two occasions the boat overturned.”

Simon described these experiences as "a bit scary."