A North Atlantic voyage journal · 2026
The Spirit of Waubun’s North Atlantic crossing from Newfoundland to Britain—told through the words and media shared from the ocean.
The North Atlantic · 2026
St. John’sPenzance
Namesake and mission
Min “Amy” Xu and Ran Li rowed the Spirit of Waubun from Newfoundland to Cornwall. After this introduction, the journal calls her Amy—the name she uses in her voyage writing.
Waubun means “rising sun”—a new beginning, a new journey and a new start. The name also honours Waubun, Minnesota, where Mike grew up and attended school.
Mike, Amy’s husband, is a longtime cystic-fibrosis patient whose compassion, self-discipline and love of life helped inspire Amy to undertake this crossing. His example reflects her belief that people with rare diseases can live full lives with loving families and communities, proper medical care and advances in treatment.
Why this crossing matters
The expedition joined an ocean challenge with rare-disease advocacy and what Amy calls “rowing diplomacy”: courage, cooperation and friendship built across borders through a shared undertaking.
The nearly 2,000-nautical-mile, human-powered crossing ran from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Newlyn and Penzance in Cornwall. These waters echo the historic Marconi connection: the first transatlantic wireless signal was received in Newfoundland from Cornwall in 1901.
Amy, a Chinese American living in the United States, and Ran, from Shantou, China, met in China and trained in the United Kingdom. Before departing Canada, they completed more than 500 hours on the water with Rannoch Adventure coaches.
Their aim reaches beyond the crossing: to strengthen human connection among people in China, the United States and the United Kingdom while making rare-disease communities more visible. Their media briefing noted an estimated 20 million people living with rare diseases in China alone.
“To allow the less seen to be seen, the less fortunate to be supported, and the less loved to feel loved.”— Amy’s statement of purpose
The crossing, in her words
The archive begins with the boat’s arrival in Newfoundland and follows the crossing chronologically. Entries covering two days remain combined where Amy wrote them that way.
When things went wrong as they always will, one may sigh but don’t quit. Yes, the world is unpredictable, sometimes no matter how much we prepare, protect, work, and work. Our w…
Thanks to the vice commodore of Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club, Carol Bryant’s connection, we hired a local ex-marine engineer who helped and fixed our boat (after examining clos…
the next couple of days the “Spirit of Waubun” will push off the land from St.John’s Newfoundland Canada for its longest, unsupported, transatlantic rowing journey to Penzance U…
thanks to all the cheers, byes, hugs from members and staff of Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club, from rowing legend and founder of Rannoch Adventure, Charlie/Emma, and rowing legen…
if one zooms in the North Atlantic, north of St. John’s Newfoundland, you won’t miss this landmark (Port St. Francis). Around UTC 1500, I radioed the Canadian Coastal Guard when…
no matter how many training hours we had (for us, 749 hours of training and living on the “Spirit of Waubun”), rowing through the first night in our transatlantic journey is spe…
as we row around latitude 48 degrees 23 minutes, the sunrise and sunset are not east or west per se. I did not appreciate that angle until I sit on a “flat” ocean rowing from we…
Ran called me out of my cabin while he was rowing on his night shift, “Amy, is that an Iceberg?”’ That got me excited! Folks tracking icebergs told us last week before we depart…
I seldom saw moon set on the horizon, it is as gorgeous as the sunset. We rowed steadily, making us 53 nm shorter towards England. Last night we rowed through heavy fog which ca…
one always hears about sharks or seeing a picture or video and felt nothing to it. But when you actually see a fin swirling around your aft/stern cabin), you may stop breathing …
it’s been the 3rd cloudy day, and it just starts to rain. Ran is singing in the rain while I’m ready to get back on deck rowing my shift. I had a great wave surfing day again (i…
happy 4th! Greetings from the North Atlanta Ocean crossing.
thanks to all the families and friends sending me the 4th July greetings. Miss you all! ❤️ Though I could not be there to celebrate with you, my heart and spirit are with you! L…
wind is strong but it is behind us this time, for a change! The waves are far from the swell wall in the “Perfect Storm”, but it does give me a picture what would be like. The w…
it all started back in 2018 when I was out with my team for the Alibaba Charity annual outing… p.s. the sun finally peaked out for a few hours, after almost 5 straight days of c…
it was a nice sunny morning, finally! It’s time to dry all the damp things in my cabin! The more excitement is that we spotted a fishing boat from afar. They must have turned of…
today is the last day of the 2nd week! We have rowed 628 nautical miles and have 1262 nm to finish. In the morning I received a surprise message from the fishing boat Eivind’s M…
July 10 we started rowing as easterly as possible to anticipate BAD weather. Before the ocean roars, I had an opportunity to WeChat my family and Alibaba Health team. Of course …
our rowing across the North Athletic Ocean represents a teamwork that can be done from zero experience of ocean rowing yet the love of ocean and adventures. Ran and I are very g…
despite the unfavorable weather and currents, Ran and I stay focused on doing everything we can to move eastward! Thank you all for your support and love! Together, we “move the…
we finally got to near the north wpt at night. It felt great to get going and moving a bit faster in a warm current. But that was very short lived as the SE wind picked up very …
Guess what? We crossed the Mid-Atlantic Ridge today according to our position longitude 33-40W, latitude 52-21N!!! That means we are on the east side of the Atlantic Ocean. The …
I was told it is the El Nina from the Pacific affecting the global weather particularly the oceans like the Atlantic Ocean. We are all in this one world, the blue water earth! O…
Holly cows! We have a sunny yet foggy day (not sure how to describe this). The ocean from miles away are covered by fogs, and the sun above us got through the clouds! Hey we are…
Ran and I started this journey on 6/26/2026 from Newfoundland Canada rowing across the North Atlantic Ocean to land in Penzance UK. Today is the last day of the 4th week! Sun fi…
it’s rare to let the wind and current take us fly for awhile, after rowing on tops and bottoms of some 12-15 footers early in the morning. Wind surfing or kite surfing would be …
Today is a special day as we rowed away from Newfoundland Canada exactly a month ago. We rowed to the starting point and started this journey on 6/26/2026. I t’s an amazing expe…
we are alone on the North Atlantic Ocean rowing across from Canada to Uk, but we are not alone! Calls, messages, videos (singing sunshine song), etc., kept us busy, while mostly…
to most of new generations of ocean crossing rowers, Autohelm is considered to be a “must” to have equipment. It lives at the back of the stern cabin of my “Spirit of Waubun” ma…
The high pressure brings the wind which helps break loose the thick clouds this morning! We are very happy to see the bright sun in the rear mirror (we face west while rowing ea…
Sun is in and out of the clouds, and the wind is not shy of showing its power. The forecast is that wind may show us its maximum power (blowing us south vehemently) in a few day…
**Rowing at night in dry warm clothes and with moonshines is a much better experience than many night shifts of putting all wet clothes, socks, hat, gloves, shoes…within a day, …
hey hey, I’m still at the North Hemisphere, greetings from the North Atlantic, the last day of July 2026, summer!!! I have been wearing xc ski suits inside my weather gear the w…
can you imagine us taking a 5-day vacation from rowing the North Atlantic Ocean, 550+ nm from England? I mean a “summer” vacation in the Spirit of Waubun, specifically in a ster…
it was a dark, rolling/pitching/yawing (or multi-dimensional non-stop motion night. We are safe. The first thing I check is my rowmate Ran. Radio him at 0500 UTC and heard nothi…
It was a big system. We have been caught in the middle of it. I was told that this system was very rare as one side the wind/current effect is counter-clockwise, and the other s…
after the two days of vacation with a nightmare of stormy weather, a full knockdown experience, and loss of two oars, a foot pedal and a few non-essentials, we saw an opportunit…
we have just passed a milestone of less than 500 nautical miles to go! We love this treat heading to Penzance UK. Even though it’s closer, it’s still about 10+ days to row, feel…
I was a bit tired after rowing longer shifts in 3 hours on/3 hours off at a low or no speed wind/current! But turning around and seeing the sunrising from afar boosted me up a b…
just when we started to feel UK is seeing us, clouds and rain are coming in, the favorable wind and current turned 180 degrees around, and are no longer friendly. What was given…
Good morning, Saturday!): thanks everyone cheering me amon! It’s so wonderful to have so many of you out there supporting us. Staying positive all the time is important and impr…
Happy Sunday!!! Waves have been pushing us overnight, feeling fast but not furious yet!!! The best of all, which also got us so hyped last night was a surprise gift from my frie…
Ran and I came to know each other bit by bit through months of training and now rowing across the North Atlantic Ocean. Two individuals (mixed duo) with very different lives hav…
today is a lab day, meaning a workshop day to build an alternative food stretcher! In case Tan and I have to row duo again (often when conditions are bad, both Ran and I need to…
on July 18, Amelia P’s captain Ian Roberts tracked us down on AIS, took the sail down and visited with us. It turns out they sailed from Halifax to England but then decided to s…
the sun was covered by the clouds when the partial eclipse occurred from where I was: the sky went dark for a few seconds and then lit up again. The video is kind of boring as i…
The last 24 hours we knocked out 56 nautical miles from DTF!!! Less than 240 nm to go! This was the second fastest day from this journey (earlier on we had a 89 nm day!). Wind w…
Last night our boat was surrounded by 30+ boats in a huge area in darkness. Earlier I communicated with one boat, and the rest was quiet. In dark, a couple of them moved very cl…
If the “Spirit of Waubun” rocks like a drunken sailor while going 3.5 knots speed with the waves/wind, I’ll not put my oars in the sea as we have only 3 oars left! There is noth…
Thank you my fellow US rowing referee group and the Canadian rowing empires)! Your support and cheering made my day!!! Also, congratulations to my Minneapolis Rowjng Club for an…
1530 utc: After 53 days of rowing from Newfoundland Canada to Penzance UK, we saw land first time! Bishop’s Rock lighthouse marked the first landmark. Only 31 nautical miles rem…
officially we landed on the other side of the pond after 53 days of rowing across the North Atlantic Ocean from Newfoundland Canada to Newlyn/Penzance UK. Last night at 18:52 UT…
once onshore, life and clock are no longer based on UTC; and ocean life vocabulary is packed away with all other essentials for maintenance and further development. Basically, t…
This voyage was undertaken to bring attention to people and families affected by rare diseases, carrying their stories across the North Atlantic.
Read the twelve rare-disease letters →Music and public media
Two songs accompanied the final stages of the crossing, while Amy’s public NewsBreak page gathered voyage videos and coverage in one place.
The song that helped Amy and Ran find their rhythm as they fought the wind eastward.
Listen Arrival song · YouTubeShared as fewer than 100 nautical miles remained and the rowers prepared for landfall.
Listen Public media · NewsBreakAdditional public videos and updates from the Spirit of Waubun expedition.
View the collectionContinuing the work on land
I’m Gary Dong, a junior at The Webb Schools. Amy is a family friend, and she invited me to create this digital journal to preserve and share the story of the Spirit of Waubun.
I also lead Webb Students for Rare, also known as the Rare Disease Awareness Club. We are an official student chapter affiliated with the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD).
Our club works to increase understanding of rare diseases within the Webb community. Looking ahead, we hope to develop new events and collaborate with nearby schools, universities, healthcare organizations and community partners to create programs with greater reach and impact.
If you are interested in our work, have an idea for a collaboration or would like to help with an event, I would be glad to connect.