Rowboat trip to Key West successful despite shark, manatee and bear threat

Well, Brian Brennan made it . Sure, he was attacked once by a shark, and another time his rowboat hit a manatee. There were some bears that kept him up one night and by the time he was done, his hands were calloused and he had lost 25 pounds. But Brennan had done it. The Navy veteran and retired chiropractor had rowed a small boat from Pensacola to Key West Florida on a months-long, nearly 900-mile journey to r aise money for disabled veterans .

Brennan took off from Flounder's on Pensacola Beach on March 31 − Easter morning − on his 18 foot long, 3 foot wide skiff, Daily Oar Deal. He had hoped to arrive in his destination of Key West on his 67th birthday on June 7 but missed by a month because of weather delays. He finally arrived in Key West on July 6, spending his birthday rowing alone without cell service in the Everglades.

The goal of the rowing mission was to raise money and awareness for the Disabled American Veterans organization. Brennan met veterans during his stops along the way, and did press with media during the trip , which raised $12,400 for the nonprofit organization. As a chiropractor and in civil service, Brennan helped treat disabled veterans in the past.

He spent months in preparation for the excursion, rowing regularly from Bayou Texar to Pensacola Beach, then back again. Brennan had to to prepare him for what was to come, which included wildlife adventures.

"I got attacked by a shark,'' he said back in Pensacola, the skiff − still stuffed with maps, dehydrated food packets, radar and other electrical equipment and other gear − now in the driveway. "It was a six-foot Mako shark, and he came by and tried to bite (the oar) and missed it and rolled over on his back and tried to bite the back of the boat, but he couldn't get his teeth around it." Soon, the shark was off somewhere in the waters off Horseshoe Beach in Florida's Big Bend area.

"I ran over a manatee,'' he said of one encounter off Marco Island near Naples. "He picked me and the boat up about a foot in the air and then shook me to the side."

Each day, weather permitting, Brennan would row about 12 to 22 miles a day, sleeping in a tent in some areas, his boat at times, and sometimes in hotels before heading out the next day.

One night near Carrabelle, east of Apalachicola, Brennan camped in an area where he was warned there was bear activity. Someone gave him an air horn to use just in case.

"It usually scared them away,'' the man told Brennan. "Usually."

It was one of his worst nights of sleep, he said.

Still, the trip was worth it, he said, noting the need to help veterans and their families.

"I met a lot of veterans and their families,'' Brennan said of his journey. "Everybody has a veteran story. If it's not you, it's your grandfather or brother or best friend. I got a lot of donations along the way. At restaurants, waitresses would give their next tip. It was impressive."

So is Brennan, said his "cheerleader" and cousin Shubob Seymour.

"I've never heard of anyone trying to attempt this and he was talking about this 30 years ago when he was a lifeguard in New Jersey,'' Seymour said. "Move 30 years forward and he flippin' does it and now he's 67. We both are but I could never accomplish when he did. And the best thing is, he's giving back to the community and to the veterans."

To donate to Brennan's ongoing fundraiser, go to https://support.dav.org and look for "900 Mile Row. Pensacola to Key West for DAV" or "Brian Brennan" in the fundraiser search.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Rowboat trip to Key West successful despite shark, manatee and bear threat