Despite setbacks, Round LI rower completes mission

Rick Shalvoy rowed his boat ashore Wednesday on the 10th day of a storm-tossed quest to circle Long Island.

The stop-and-start mission to raise funds for wounded military veterans began with a four-man team Aug. 16 from West Neck Beach in Lloyd Harbor, exactly where it ended at midafternoon, several days later than planned. Under gray skies, Shalvoy, 57, rowed steadily into the waters of Cold Spring Harbor escorted by two boats from the Coast Guard and the Huntington harbormaster.

And as he stepped ashore, his wife, Holli Dunayer-Shalvoy, beamed as she offered a hug and told him: "You are one impressive guy."

"You are one crazy son of a gun," joked Northport Police Chief Ric Bruckenthal, whose son Nate - a Coast Guard petty officer killed in the Persian Gulf in 2004 - was honored by the row. "This is a story of perseverance."

A former life guard who had rowed around Long Island 10 times, most recently in 2006, Shalvoy called Tuesday "the toughest day I've ever had in the water, anywhere. The nor'easter was delivering unrelenting pounding of wind and waves."

He started the voyage with Chris Rizopoulos, 37, of Coram and Chris Cuddihy, 56, and his son Ryan, 28, both of Riverhead. On Day 2, Shalvoy and Rizopoulos disembarked in Long Beach to get treatment for dehydration after getting seasick in the stormy seas. The Cuddihys, with Brian Banks, 25, continued Thursday before ending the trip in rough conditions at Moriches Inlet. By Friday, Shalvoy felt well enough to continue solo.

But wind, rain and rough surf persisted. On Monday, he beached his custom wooden surf boat in Wading River after a collision with an underwater rock. On Tuesday, he resumed in a fiberglass boat, fighting the remnants of the nor'easter. The battery in his boat's light died at midnight and, by 1 a.m. Wednesday, he put in at the Coast Guard station on Eatons Neck.

Tom Ronayne, director of the Suffolk County Veterans Service Agency, greeted Shalvoy and said his voyage was "inspirational." Shalvoy, who underwrites securities and does marketing, said he planned to rest a day, then resume his exercise regimen and training.

"Will I be back in the water?" he asked. "The answer is yes."