A PROUD dad has spoken of his adventure-seeking son’s epic 3,000 mile solo row across the Atlantic Ocean for charity – saying with Great British understatement that “kids will do crazy things sometimes!”

Rob Hamilton, 30, who grew up in Haslemere and still calls the town home, passed the half-way point of his epic journey from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua & Barbuda in the Caribbean this week.

And with the finish line in sight, he is now hoping to add to the £4,000 he has already raised for his chosen charities: the Invictus Games Foundation and Collateral Repair Project, a Jordanian refugee charity for whom Rob has previously worked.

Dad Gordon, who exchanges emails daily with Rob from his home in Haslemere, said: “As well as the physical demands of what they’re doing, particularly for the solos, there has to be a degree of real resilience and mental toughness to be able to deal with it, because they don’t see anybody else after the first day or two.

“But I think Rob is holding up pretty well, and he’s very fit.As part of his training for this, he’s been doing lots of work on a rowing machine, and lots of weights. He’s built himself up and can now lift over 200kg.”

Rob’s dreams of a career in the army were dashed through injury, but he subsequently gained a masters degree in Middle Eastern studies and has travelled extensively.

He well as spending nine months as an intern with the Collateral Repair Project in Jordan, he has also travelled overland from Cape Town to Addis Ababa, as well as through such ‘hot spots’ as Jordan, Syria, Turkey and northern Iraq, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

So how does Gordon feel about his son’s escapades?

“Proud,” said his dad. “I remember he once told us he was holed up in a hotel listening to gunfire while his American travelling companion was playing ‘guess the calibre’!

“What can I say: kids do crazy things sometimes!”

It is the first time Rob has done anything on the scale of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, but Gordon – who flew out to the Caribbean on Wednesday to greet his son – said he is reassured by how well the long-established event has been organised.

He continued: “The event is very well prepared, the teams are very well prepared, and they make sure they don’t go if they’re not ready.

“Obviously stuff can happen, and Rob mentioned the other day that he nearly capsized. But generally I’m really proud of what he’s doing, really happy for him, and looking forward to seeing him when he arrives in Antigua & Barbuda.”

The Herald’s hopes of a mid-Atlantic interview with Rob were thwarted by strong winds and high seas. But BBC Radio Oxford had more luck.

Rob told the BBC: “It’s been a bit of a wild ride so far, and it’s certainly much tougher and different than anything I could have ever expected.

“The first couple of weeks were marked by really, completely flat, calm water and no wind – which sounds idyllic, but is actually hard work.

“There is no shade on deck, and you’re rowing 14 to 16 hours each day, making very slow progress in the extreme heat, and not really sleeping which can lead to all kinds of things like hallucinations.

“In one instance I completely forgot what I was doing, why I was doing it, where I was – I imagined these three characters in the cabin and asked them if I can stop rowing now!

“So it really can play a number on your mind. But recently I’ve felt a bit better.

“We’ve had some really big, big waves – 30ft waves to surf down, so we’re making much better progress.

“It hasn’t all been doom and gloom, and hallucinations. The other day I went swimming with dolphins, I’ve seen whales, I’ve seen turtles, the most incredible sunrises and sunsets, and the night sky.

“I’ve seen shooting stars, meteors burn up in the atmosphere, satellites, the Milky Way, so it’s really been an incredible experience.

“But at the same time, there is no hiding from the conditions out here – or from yourself. I think is really quite an honest, and quite brutal character assessment.”

To donate to Rob’s causes, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/atlantic-titan and to keep tabs on his progress see www.taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge.com