Transatlantic boat trip

HUDSON - Go big, or go home -- that's how Ralph Brown tries to prove a point. Saturday afternoon, Brown hopes to move the 21-foot flats boat he designed and built from its Hudson factory to Tampa Bay for a very long trip.

"We're going from there to Frankfurt Germany. It will take 48 days," Brown said.

The transatlantic crossing has been several years in the making. Brown says some people have called it a suicide mission, but he insists he will set a record and prove something in the process.

"We think this is the most sea worthy boat in the world," he says.

Brown in no stranger to long trips in small boats. Two years ago, he took the same boat on a 1,400 mile trip from Bermuda to the east coast of the United States.

"I was in Bermuda, and when he was delayed for a day it was a little nerve wracking," says Brown's wife Anne.

Typically, Brown's boat only carries 27 gallons of fuel. This time he will carry nearly 400 gallons of gas at a time. He and his brother will be at the helm, taking turns sleeping on the deck. His wife says she thought about trying to talk Brown out of the transatlantic crossing, but decided against it.

"There is a lot of safety equipment on board, much more than a lot of boaters carry, so if something happens, he can be located within minutes," said Anne Brown.

If Brown makes it, he says he will establish a world record for the longest ocean voyage in a 21 foot shallow water motor boat.