Photos: Northwest Passage by row boat

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Son Nelson Hedrich snaps a photo of himself and father Charles in Wales on July 1, 2013, with the specialized rowboat that Charles hopes will take him across the Northwest Passage.

A 55-year-old French adventurer and world-renowned rower has been beached in Wales, on the Arctic Alaska coast, awaiting clear weather to launch his latest quest: navigating the infamous, ice-laden Northwest Passage that connects the Asian Pacific to the European Atlantic.

Charles Hedrich has successfully completed a two-month solo voyage across Antarctica and also rowed the Atlantic trade wind route from Dakhar to Brazil, setting a world record according to the Ocean Rowing Society, an organization which tracks ocean rowing routes.

But this journey is off to a choppy start so far.

READ MORE: FRENCH ADVENTURER TAKES ON NORTHWEST PASSAGE VIA ROWBOAT