On October 2, 2026, Dave Bell stood on a beach in Kilifi County, on Kenya's coast, barely able to walk. He had not set foot on land since leaving Lima, Peru, on November 9, 2025.
The British former Royal Marine had rowed solo and unsupported across the Pacific and Indian oceans in a small boat called Billy No Mates. It is an odyssey that took him 327 days.
The 54-year-old rowed more than 28,000 kilometres across the two oceans and three continents, including South America, Australia and Africa, arriving on the Kenyan coast on October 2, 2026.
The journey that began in Lima, Peru, on November 9, 2025 was not easy. He set out aboard his small rowing boat, Billy No Mates, initially intending to cross the Pacific Ocean.
The expedition instead became an almost year-long journey that took him from South America towards Australia, through the challenging waters of the Torres Strait, also known as Zenadh Kes.
The Torres Strait is a narrow sea passage between the tip of Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea, connecting the Coral Sea and the Arafura Sea.
At one point, Bell had to stop rowing for about eight weeks in the South Pacific because he was moving too quickly and risked reaching the Coral Sea during cyclone season.
“Today this is the third continent that I have seen since I stepped into the sea. I had really difficult times in the Coral Sea, and yes, at some point I was worried because I had to wait for the cyclone season to finish in the Coral Sea,” said Bell.
Rather than continue into dangerous weather, he deliberately slowed his progress. The unforgiving hurricane season for the eastern Pacific basin is from May 15 to November 30, but tropical cyclones occasionally occur before and after these dates.
The peak of the cyclone is late August, but in the eastern Pacific tend to be spread out between late June and early October. Bell knew that dangers that the hurricane and cyclone posed to his odyssey.
For nearly 11 months, Bell travelled without a support vessel or crew, facing storms, large waves and equipment failures along the way. Bell says he used to sleep for about three to four hours a day.
He lost two oars, encountered sharks and relied on desalination to produce drinking water as he crossed thousands of kilometres of open ocean alone.
‘’I had a desalination machine that desalinated the seawater. Then I had dry food. So my job was to manage the power and dehydrate the food,'' said Bell.
Further, Bell says he was followed for weeks by two white-tip sharks, while much of his daily life consisted of rowing, repairing equipment, making drinking water and monitoring his route.
'I was followed for weeks by ocean white-tips in the Pacific in the ocean, and I would row along for hours and days like that. It was just amazing,” he said.
To cope with the isolation, he listened to podcasts and audiobooks and exchanged voice notes with people back home.
‘’Psychological with the solitude it was a mixture of both calm and quiet. I would row with the large parts of the day in silence, just enjoying the ocean and the environment,” he said.
He said the expedition also aimed to raise funds and awareness for Rock2Recovery, a UK charity that supports veterans, Armed Forces personnel, emergency-service workers and their families.
The expedition has so far raised more than £110,000 for the organisation.
When he finally stepped onto the beach in Kilifi, Bell had difficulty walking after spending so long on the boat. He stooped to touch the sand before being supported by his partner, Georgie, as he made his way ashore.
“I’ve not stepped off that boat since the ninth of November. This is the first time I’ve touched land,” Bell said after arriving in Kilifi.
Despite completing the journey earlier than expected, Bell said he still had enough food on the boat to last another 20 days.
Bell is a former Royal Marine from Bere Regis in Dorset, England, who spent 20 years in the British military.
His experience in the Royal Marines has been central to how he approached the physical and psychological demands of spending months alone at sea.
But the Kilifi arrival was not his first major ocean challenge.
In 2021, Bell spent 119 days rowing solo and unsupported across the Atlantic, travelling from New York to Newlyn in Cornwall. At the time, he vowed never to undertake another expedition of the same kind.
He eventually changed his mind and advanced his technology, including lighter boats, improved solar panels and autopilot systems, which made him curious about what else he could achieve.
That curiosity eventually became the expedition that has now brought him to Kenya, crossing two oceans.
Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro welcomed him after the completion of the gruelling voyage.
Mung’aro described Bell’s arrival as an extraordinary achievement, highlighting the 327 days spent at sea and the more than 28,000 kilometres covered before he reached the Kenyan coast.
“Kilifi is proud to welcome you. Karibu Kenya, Karibu Kilifi,” Mung’aro said.