Nov. 15 — A 57-year old Norwegian doctor has become the first man to row from continental Europe to South America, reaching Guyana after a 96-day journey.

Stein Hoff set foot on the Parika wharf at late Thursday afternoon — a day ahead of schedule — after battling strong winds and cross-currents that threatened to end his quest.

"I had my share of bad weather, I have been scared a couple of times, big waves, surfing when you don't want to. The scariest was yesterday and today (Thursday), that was the worst of the whole trip and the best," Hoff said.

"(The coast guard) offered to tow me but I wanted to be unsupported, I wanted to row from Lisbon to somewhere in Guyana on my own from step-to-step and I have done it."

Hoff said he was awake for more than 20 hours as he battled winds and currents that drifted his plywood-and-epoxy Star Atlantic II onto mudflats and between navigational piles that could have punctured the 23-foot-long vessel.

Hoff began his 6,850-kilometer (3,700-mile) journey from Lisbon in mid-August. He had hoped to land in Georgetown.

He said the only other contact he had with the outside world was via his laptop computer, satellite phone and two-way radio, which failed in the last rough hours of his journey.