Former residents of Marijampoli also wove the crown of victory for the traveler who overcame the Atlantic

Early on the morning of December 26, the traveler Aurimas Valujavičius, who started a historic journey by rowing boat across the Atlantic Ocean from the Spanish port of Ayamonte, reached Miami after 121 days of travel and became only the third person in the world to complete such a route. The traveler reached the end of his most dangerous and difficult journey at Castle Harbor near Miami, where his closest family members, a large group of fans, and journalists were waiting for him. Among them are former residents of Marijampole, Renata and Linas Natkevičiai with their 13-year-old daughter Urte.

After landing on the shore, the rower admitted that he felt good, and most of all he would like to have a drink. According to A. Valujavičius, this trip of his proves that everyone can realize their dreams. The traveler who received a glass of fresh water from the hands of L. Natkevičius said that he drank only distilled water for four months in the ocean and the taste of fresh water is wonderful.

According to the former residents of Marijampole who have been living in the United States for 17 years and return to their homeland every summer, they followed Aurim’s journey from the beginning, read his posts on social networks, and watched the map where he is located in the ocean. Together with other compatriots from the local Lithuanian center “Saulētas krantas” they prepared a lot for the welcome of the hero.

– If Aurimas had sailed on Sunday, there would have been even more people to greet him, even though there were really many of them now. The local Lithuanians, as well as those who came a long way from neighboring states, communicated a lot with each other. We also rehearsed the bridge of flags under which he passed. There is a luxurious private yacht club in the place where he sailed, so the local people were also interested in what was going on here, Linas said.

According to Renata, she had the idea to decorate the man who conquered Atlanta with a victory wreath, but oak trees do not grow in Miami, so Renata wove the wreath from eucalyptus branches, because she knew that they were suitable for this purpose.

– At first, we went to the ocean on Monday, but already halfway through the news arrived that Aurimas would be late and would not arrive that day. So we came, looked around and returned home, and on Tuesday we drove again.
I took great care of that eucalyptus wreath so that it wouldn’t wither, so we dipped it in water and covered it with ice cream, and it lasted very well, Aurim liked it, Renata was happy.

Natkevičiai were dressed in red, yellow and green t-shirts to meet the winner of Atlant, and they also carried national clothes in the car. At the weekend, Aurimas would have been welcomed by even four local Lithuanian couples dressed in national clothes, who dance together in the national dance group “Papartėliai”. On the working day, the other three couples could not come, so Natkevičiai were the only ones to dress up in national costumes. According to Renata, she only recently found out that the costume in which she dances is almost a hundred years old and is decorated with Swalkian patterns.

According to Marijampol residents, it was about 80 kilometers from their house to the place where the traveler arrived. They had to excuse themselves from work – for Monday, they specially worked last Sunday in advance, but on Tuesday they had to excuse themselves for the whole day.

Lin said that the traveler left the impression of a very warm, simple, direct person, even though he was very tired when he disembarked. He willingly signed autographs, communicated with everyone who wanted to and was surprised that so many Lithuanians came to meet him. “Follow your dreams, everyone has their own Atlantic,” he repeated several times.

According to Renata and Lin, those two days were ones they will not forget for the rest of their lives, because there were so many positive emotions, it was so good to feel Lithuanian that it is impossible to forget it. And a couple of days after the traveler’s consent, they were still living in those moments.

Before the start of the trip and already rowing in the ocean, A. Valujavičius also repeatedly mentioned that his goal is not only to overcome this route, but also to improve the world record, which was 111 days. This he was prevented from doing by unfavorable winds, which adjusted both the direction of the rowing and the speed, and besides, he was not immediately able to obtain permission to enter that port.

Nevertheless, the trip was successful, and during it the traveler who was in the center of attention of all Lithuania not only rowed, but also fished, saw amazing ocean animals, fought against the elements of nature and constantly delighted his followers with various videos.

Aurimas will stay in America for a few more days, meet his compatriots in Chicago, and then return to Lithuania. There have already been proposals to give him the title of honorary citizen of Kaunas. At the beginning of next year, a film in which he immortalized his trip, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the flight of S. Darius and S. Girėnas across the Atlantic, should be released.