Forget walking 500 miles. A rower literally just crossed 3,000 miles over the Atlantic Ocean to propose to his boyfriend.
31-year-old David Alviar, along with fellow rowers Mike Matson and Brian Krauskopf, started their journey last December in the Canary Islands, off the coast of North Africa. Their final destination: the island of Antigua in the Caribbean.
Throughout the 3,000-mile, seven-week journey, the guys, who are all from Texas, kept people updated with humor tweets from their shared Twitter page @americanoarsmen:
we've left all traces of land behind to join the valleys of rolling waves. onward!
— American Oarsmen (@americanoarsmen) December 16, 2016
what each most wants today… mike:chuy's burrito, dave:hot shower, brian:antique's road show
— American Oarsmen (@americanoarsmen) December 27, 2016
a small purple fish with a BIG dorsal fin just jumped in the boat. despite briefly considering eating it, we took pity and threw it back in
— American Oarsmen (@americanoarsmen) December 29, 2016
starting to notice some physical changes: supremely bushy beards, majestic tans, tighter waist lines
— American Oarsmen (@americanoarsmen) January 7, 2017
On the final day of their record-breaking journey, with just 39 nautical miles left to go, Naviar tweeted: “One last push!”
Twelve hours later, they reached land, where their friends and family eagerly awaited.
Smiling in front of the cameras, Naviar immediately approached his boyfriend, Stanley, got down on bended knee, and held up a ring.
“Will you marry me?” he asked.
A teary-eyed Stanley nodded “yes.” The guys kissed. And the crowd went wild.
Congrats to the happy couple, and to the whole crew!
o.codone
OMG. Nobody noticed that the guys name changed from the second paragraph where his name was David “Alviar” to the end of the story where his name was said to be “Naviar”. I guess nobody reads this shit except me. Let me call my mother and ask her if she thinks I have a life. “Mom, I have a life, right”? Hahahaha. It’s just me and my three screen names, and two other guys, each with three other screen names. Total of three guys read Queerty. But it looks like 9.
Danny595
This is a great story. My best wishes to the couple. However, it is worth noting that another gay guy, Gavan Hennigan, rowed the same race – the Talisker Challenge – and he did so solo. He beat the American Oarsman team and many other teams of 2, 3, and 4 people, coming in 3rd overall and losing only to 2 four-man teams. The guy is awesome with an amazing life story. He is planning on rowing back the other direction, from New York to Ireland. So that’s two really cool gay guys on this year’s Talisker Challenge.
girldownunder
Congratulations!
I wish for this to be what is offered to ALL LOVING COUPLES!
Signed, a single mother of two children, who are both high-achievers in uni. One accepted to paid internship, the other, just started but already being asked to step in as a tutor.
AU– get on-board! You can’t win the race if you deny those whom you need!