Row Row Row Your Boat for LymeLight Foundation with the Julios, Majeski and Jakubecy

That old nursey rhyme “Row Row Row Your Boat” takes on a new meaning after four elite athletes, three from Oceanport and one from Rumson, muscled 130-miles from Cape May to Sandy Hook in row boats.

Jeremy and Jason Julio, twins from Oceanport, and co-owners of Last Bite Mosquito and Tick Control, came up with the idea to raise money for a charity close to their hearts. LymeLight Foundation is a nonprofit which provides grants to eligible children and young adults suffering from lyme disease. The past few years the Julio brothers have come up with some very physically challenging fundraisers.

Last year Jeremy and John Majeski, of Oceanport, paddled their stand-up paddle boards from Oceanport to Lower Manhattan. The year before, Jason, Jeremy , Majeski, and Johnathan Jakubecy, Rumson, undertook the 4-by-4-by-48 endurance run. That’s where they run four miles every four hours for a straight 48 hours. Both times they did it as a fundraiser for LymeLight.

Jason, who is a teacher at Tom’s River Intermediate East, stated his brother, Jeremy who is a teacher at Long Branch High School and Majeski are the two who  brainstorm the crazy challenges. This summer, the plan was rowing from Cape May all the way up the coast to Sandy Hook. The brothers, along with friends Majeski, owner of Servepro in Eatontown, and Jakubecy, all former highly trained lifeguards undertook the challenge. They were using a rowboat called an Asay, which is named after Robert Asay, from Asbury Park. He designed and built self-bailing boats in the early 1980’s which are used by lifeguards up and down the east coast.

“We contacted lifeguards from Cape May to Sandy Hook and told them of our plan and invited them to row alongside us as we passed their beaches,” said Jason. He stated that they would get in the water around 7:00 in the morning and rowed from 10-13 hours each day. “Every three or five miles we would take a break for water or fuel up on some food,” said Jason. They never left the ocean until they reached their daily check points.

The two boats were anywhere from 200 yards to a half mile offshore. “It wasn’t easy. For me, the second half of the first day was the worse, with the swell and cross winds. It had me questioning if it was possible,” said Jason. Even elite athletes have doubts and question their ability, but they also have the mental strength and endurance.

Every night they would pull the boats on shore, they stayed at the Showboat the first night and then at a friends on night two. The second day was much easier for Jason and they had no issues until it came time to beach the boats. “The end of the second day as we were beaching the boats, we were coming in fast with a large beach break and it flipped our boat,” said Jason. He was in the boat with Jakubecy, while Jeremy and Majeski were in the other. “We lost a seat and broke an oar.”

Again, Jason wondered how they could finish with only one day left. The lifeguard community which were out supporting the journey came to the rescue. “With the help of the local lifeguards, we were able to get another seat and oar, so we had a peaceful night and were ready for the final leg,” said Jason.

However, the morning of day 3, they realized the seat did not fit their boat. “We scrambled to find the right tools and adjusted the seat to fit our boat,” said Jason. As they pushed off the beach, they went directly into the same type swell that flipped them the night before. “After being we went through a large set of waves that spun the boat and we fell out.” Johnathan scrambled to get back in the boat, while Jason pointed him in the right direction and he pulled the boat over a set of five large waves.  “I was stuck in the middle of the surf holding our space oar and only seat, duck diving and swimming through the break. They finally made it back to the boat, loaded up and off they went. “Have to say, my brother and Majeski had a much easier transition.”

So, at the conclusion of day three, they traveled a total of 136 miles in 32 hours and 27 minutes. They had 48,000 strokes and burned an incredible 27,000 calories. A normal person burns roughly 12-1500 calories daily doing nothing. A 30-minute jog at five mph burns around 300 calories.

The most impressive number however is how much they raised. The brothers raised $15,000 for LymeLight while Majeski and Jacubecy raised $15,000 for World Central Kitchen. They also raffled off baseball tickets to a Yankee and Mets game.