After earning a reputation as two of the craziest men to cross the Atlantic in recent memory, Ralph and Bob Brown decided to mark the completion of their record-breaking voyage in typically flamboyant style.

But the brothers’ victory celebration — a lap of honour around the Statue of Liberty — landed them in hot water when eagle-eyed officials promptly hit them with a $75 ticket for breaking strict security regulations.

Now the American pair have been bailed out by a Royal Gazette reader who was so impressed by their Ultimate Bermuda Suicide Challenge he decided to pay their fine himself.

They embarked on the North Carolina to New York via Bermuda unescorted mission as a publicity stunt to prove a 21-foot flats boat, which is normally designed for shallow water fishing, was capable of handling the ocean. Peter Michelson, a Bermudian living in New York, had followed the Brown brothers’ antics via this newspaper’s website.

When he spotted on their blog shortly afterwards that they had been fined for the Statue of Liberty incident, Mr. Michelson stepped in. “I read that they had received the ticket for going around the Statue of Liberty and thought that wasn’t the kind of welcome they needed after their accomplishment. They went through all that, and got a $75 ticket,” he said.

“So I emailed them and told them I was a Bermudian who wanted to pay their ticket, and I put a cheque in the post for them. I told them to pay the ticket and then reimburse themselves with my cheque.”

The area surrounding the statue became out of bounds when security was stepped up in the wake of September 11. Ralph and Bob say they had no idea they were breaking the law.

Ralph said: “I did a victory lap around the Statue of Liberty. I guess you can’t do that. They called it a restricted zone violation. The sign was down where we entered the zone. They said it was my fault, I should have had a chart. Welcome home.”

A message from Ralph on his website explains how the pair got fined: “Three nice port authority officers showed up in a Police cruiser and wrote us a $75 ticket, about 20 to 30 minutes after we got there.

“It was nice of them to provide the Government documentation of our arrival for the world record certification. In Bermuda, people asked us to sign a copy of the newspaper with our pictures on it. In NY Harbour, we got to sign a summons. See how much we are alike.”

After arriving in Bermuda at the half-way point of their trip, Floridians Ralph and Bob were urged to abandon their voyage on safety grounds by Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre and US Coast Guard officials.

However, they decided to press ahead regardless, and completed the second leg of the journey in about two days.

On this point, Ralph added: “You know at first I thought the people from Harbour Radio were giving me a hard time. You know, they turned out to be like the rest of Bermuda, some of the nicest guys in the world.

“I felt like I made so many friends in your country. You know I will be back and I will tell all my friends about your country.”About the donation, Ralph added: “You know, you guys from Bermuda are the nicest people I have ever met. Several people have stayed in touch with us by email. The kindness has not stopped since I left. It is unbelievable.”