George Harbo

Frank Samuelsen (26 February 1870 – 1946) and George Harbo (14 September 1864 – 1909) were Norwegian-born Americans who in 1896 became the first people ever to row across an ocean. Their time record for rowing the North Atlantic Ocean was not broken for 114 years, and then by four rowers instead of two.

George Harbo

Gottleb Harbo Ragnhildrød was born in the community of Sandar in Sandefjord in Vestfold, Norway, on September 14, 1864. He was the older of the two men and the instigator of the idea to row across the Atlantic Ocean. George had been in the merchant marine, a surf fisherman and a part-time pilot before clamming in his own boat, of his own building, off the Jersey Shore with his younger friend Frank Samuelsen. By 1886 he was settled in the United States with his wife, Anine Brynhildsen.

Frank Samuelsen

Frank Samuelsen was born Gabriel Samuelsen in a seacoast town, Farsund in Vest-Agder, Norway onFebruary 26, 1870 and went to sea at age 17, spending six years in the merchant marine. Samuelsen was quickly promoted up the ships chain-of-command to bosun's mate. After six years at sea covering many of the worlds oceans Frank decided to make New York a permanent port. He headed for the fishing villages along the Jersey coast where his brother lived and there he would meet up with George Harbo. They became friends and clammed together.

The inspiration for their scheme was Richard Kyle Fox (1846–1922), publisher of National Police Gazette from 1877 until his death in 1922. He had backed previous schemes that today might feature in the Guinness Book of Records. Fox allegedly offered a prize of $10,000 (roughly $300,000 in 2018 money) to the first men to row across the Atlantic; however, no contemporary sources exist that confirm this money was ever offered by Fox or the Police Gazette, or that the men were even expecting such a substantial sum. Numerous sources report the men were expecting either no money or only whatever money could be raised from exhibitions following successful completion of the voyage. Sources do show Fox and the Police Gazette offered and provided towing of the 'Fox' to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn -- the last outside propulsion used by Harbo and Samuelsen until reaching Europe; payment of expenses incurred by the American consulate in Le Havre for their food, clothing, and temporary shelter upon reaching the continent; and, indeed, publicity in the Police Gazette. (The Gazette was the only newspaper willing to attach its name to the endeavor as others considered it too risky.)

Using their life savings, an 18-foot ship-lap (clinker-built) oak rowboat was built with water-resistant cedar sheathing with a couple of watertight flotation compartments and two rowing benches. The boat was fitted with rails to help them right it if capsized, a feature that saved their lives in mid-ocean. The boat was carrying American flags and was named "Fox" in honor of the editor. With a compass, a sextant, a copy of the Nautical Almanac, oilskins and three sets of oars lashed safely in place, they set out from The Battery in New York City on June 6, 1896, and arrived 55 days later in the Isles of Scilly off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain.

Richard Fox came to Paris, and at a dinner held in honor of the Atlantic voyagers, handed each rower a gold medal. However, Samuelsen and Harbo never received any prize money, nor gained any fame and fortune on the lecture circuit. (They did get ten Swedish krona from King Oscar II of Sweden for their trouble.)

The partners loaded their boat on a steamer for the return journey. It was apocryphally reported that the steamer ran out of coal off the coast of Cape Cod, and when the Captain ordered all wooden objects aboard broken up and stoked to make steam for the remainder of the trip, Samuelsen and Harbo relaunched the Fox over the side and rowed back to New York.In fact, when the Herald newspaper correspondent met the steamer “at the dock in Hoboken, the boilers were chuffing steam and Harbo, Samuelson and the Fox were all aboard. The reporter describes the weathered state of their skiff, lashed to the steamer’s deck next to the ship’s pristine white lifeboat, which seemed a giant in comparison.” Though they soon faded into obscurity, their time record for rowing the North Atlantic was not broken for another 114 years. Single oarsmen have since made the crossing and ocean rowing has developed into a kind of extreme sport.

Their logbook and a journal dictated by Harbo survive to document their feat, which was worked into a dramatic account by freelance writer David W. Shaw in 1998.In 1985 folk singer Jerry Bryant wrote The Ballad of Harbo and Samuelsen which has since been recorded by many other artists including William Pint and Felicia Dale. Norwegian folk vocalist Ingvild Koksvik has written and published in 2016 the song Gabriel.

In the summer of 2010, four rowers – skipper Leven Brown (37), Ray Carroll (33), Don Lennox (41) and Livar Nysted (39), on the Artemis Investments – bested the record set by Samuelsen andHarbo by crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 43 days, 21 hours and 26 minutes. But the record for two people rowing across the Atlantic still belongs to Harbo and Samuelson.

Samuelsen and Harbo's voyage was the subject of a 2016 episode of the Futility Closet Podcast.

• Shaw, David W.(1998) Daring the Sea : The True Story of the First Men to Row Across the Atlantic Ocean (New York City: Citadel Press) ISBN 978-0806525273
• Longyard, William H. (2003) A Speck on the Sea(Chapter 4, International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press) ISBN 978-0071440295
• Anthony, Irvin (1930) Voyagers Unafraid, 'Row Sailor Row, Harbo and Samuelsen' (A. L. Burt Company, New York and Chicago)