Once not enough for this trans-Atlantic escapade

In a way, it's amazing they can still dream.

After seeing a stampede of about 250 dolphins rush past their 29-foot boat, leaving the Atlantic Ocean looking like boiling water; or noticing the glow of a shark's head just below the water's surface at night while in the midst of a nearly 69-day row, you'd think they'd done it all.

But when Jordan Hanssen closes his eyes, there's more to achieve.

"I'd like to think this is just a prelude for all of us," he said. "It may be the most splashy thing we've ever done, but maybe we'll do something cooler. When you go through a project like this, it's like a drug, and I can see us going through withdrawal once we landed because there are such highs and lows and they're so addictive. One moment you're on top of the world and the next you're getting crushed by it."

Hanssen, 24, corralled three buddies from his alma mater, the University of Puget Sound, to form OAR (Ocean Adventure Rowing) Northwest. Together, they navigated the 3,290 nautical miles to win the inaugural Ocean Fours Rowing Race from New York to England. They finished in 68 days, 23 hours, and 18 minutes to set a mark in the Guinness Book of World Records, landing Aug. 18.

Now Hanssen wants to return to England — as an Olympian — for the 2012 Summer Games in London.

"I've got to research how to train for it," he said. "Pick the races that I need to do well in and set little goals along the way for the big goal."

Until then, Hanssen is working on a book about his adventure with Dylan LeValley, 23; Greg Spooner, 27; and Brad Vickers, 23. What the book can't depict, Flying Spot Entertainment — which outfitted the estimated $60,000 boat of fiberglass and foam with its video equipment — will try to complete with its 300 hours of footage.

It's being pitched as a feature-length documentary, or possibly a 72-day series that could run on a cable station such as The Discovery Channel.

"Everything is in the preliminary stages right now," said Kathleen Minnis, senior producer, whose company was behind the hit documentary about the Roosevelt High School girls basketball team, "The Heart of the Game."

"They are so dynamic and so wonderful, to really capture it in 1 ½ hours is really tough," Minnis said. "But within the next year, the story should be on screen — we just don't know if it will be big or small."

The crew raised about $300,000 to make the trip and returned a collective $42,000 in debt, not earning a thing but respect for their feat.

"We all maxed out our credit cards before we left, so for me, it was like, 'OK, the first person to give me a job, I'm taking it," said LeValley, currently working as a coordinator with the Seattle Boat Show through its exhibition in February. "Maybe in February I'll be able to spend a little time thinking about what I want to do, but probably not."

The foursome donated $40,000 to the American Lung Association, which had a special link to the crew because Hanssen's father died of an asthma attack when Jordan was 3.

LeValley, Spooner and Vickers hiked Knocknarea Mountain in Ireland with Hanssen immediately following the row to pay respects to James Robert Hanssen, whose ashes were scattered there.

Hanssen makes trips to the spot to feel close to his father. This time Hanssen wrote him a letter, shaved some wood off the oars of the boat, which was christened after his father, and burned it atop the mountain as a tribute.

"It's almost like I can tell him anything there. And this was a big thing," Hanssen said.

And there were numerous stories from the trip to tell.

"I was amazed that in the middle of the ocean there were all of these birds," Hanssen said of the shearwaters, various gulls, Parasitic Jaegers and pesky arctic terns that would dive-bomb the boat's GPS system because the ball atop the signal looked like a bug.

Spooner's heart dropped when he saw the last tower off the coast of New York dissolve into the horizon.

"That was the first time it hit me and I thought, 'What have I done?' " Spooner said.

Now, it's one of those classic stories that will bond the group forever.

Tales like the confidential agreement made with the government regarding discarding their human waste. Or how Hanssen's brother kicked overboard the fishing equipment prior to the team leaving, which meant all they could do was look at the mammoth tuna swimming by.

"He'll never live that down," Vickers said of Hanssen's brother.

While Hanssen and LeValley remain involved in the sport, Vickers currently is substitute teaching in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Seattle.

Spooner is following a family tradition.

"I've got a family full of docs, so I'm saying goodbye to this and doing what I should have done in the first place," he said of becoming a physical therapist.

Spooner surely has a better understanding of pain from the experience, especially when the crew would row for 24 hours and travel only the equivalent of a mile because of harsh winds. Tropical storm Alberto was particularly tricky. As Spooner described it, it was like someone crinkling a plastic bag in your ear nonstop for 18 hours while waves rumbled before they hit the boat, smacking it on its side and then righting itself.

Where were the guys? Scrunched together in a 7-foot cabin.

"It was 18 hours of darkness and wonder," Spooner said of the storm. "And the wind wouldn't stop blowing us away from England the last few weeks. It got to a point where I was thinking the earth just has to run out of wind. It was the point when our psyche was tested the most. We definitely saw each other at our lowest point."

Remaining cordial was essential, however, particularly because there was no place to escape.

"Food is definitely linked to morale," said Vickers, whose crew lost a combined 140 pounds. "It was an incredible adventure. I was amazed it was such a mental challenge compared to the physical. But hopefully this will inspire other creative interests. I just don't have any, now."

Yet, the ability to still dream big is amazing in itself.

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com