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Bob and Ralph Brown Crossing Atlantic for Christ

July 8, 2009 By Lisa Miller

Their wives, it should be said at the outset, do not entirely approve: Bob and Ralph Brown, two 50-something brothers, are planning to steer their 21-foot flats boat—a motorized fiberglass raft—across the Atlantic Ocean to honor three Marines who died for their country nearly 30 years ago.

The boat has a canopy roof, but no cabin. Crowded with gas cans and water bottles, it looks like a kind of floating bachelor pad—the brothers themselves have the demeanor of overgrown frat boys. Genial and straight-faced, they plan to live on fruit cocktail and “hand snacks” (potato chips, energy bars) for the next 48 days. They have fishing rods, but no cook stove; there’s cereal in case of emergencies. They will take turns sleeping, outfitted in foul-weather gear and lashed to the boat, on a child-size air mattress. “The air mattress really makes it a lot better,” says Ralph, a former Marine himself. “You just go ahead and lay down and get wet.”

Filed Under: BeliefWatch: Lisa Miller, Newsweek Tagged With: Lisa Miller

Lisa Miller

Lisa Miller

Lisa Miller is a staff writer at New York magazine. She is a former columnist for the Washington Post, former senior editor of Newsweek magazine, and author of "Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife."

About Lisa Miller

Lisa-Miller-Headshot

Lisa Miller is a staff writer at New York magazine. She is the former religion columnist for the Washington Post, former senior editor of Newsweek magazine, and author of "Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife."

In 2014, Lisa Miller was nominated for the National Magazine Award and featured in Best Magazine Writing of 2014.

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NOMINATED FOR THE NATIONAL MAGAZINE AWARD

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