NEW YORK — An American rower who set out to cross the Atlantic Ocean in honor of his brother reached the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.

A spokesman for 48-year-old Victor Mooney said early Saturday the specially built oceangoing rowboat was towed about 20 miles to shore Friday while Mooney was aboard a search and rescue vessel. He has lost 80 pounds as he continues a 3,000-mile journey from the African coast to the British Virgin Islands, and then another 1,800 miles to New York.

Mooney was taken to a hospital for observation when he arrived, spokesman Lisa Samuels said in an e-mail. She said that Mooney survived a shark attack that punctured his boat and will continue to the British Virgin Islands after getting “some needed rest.”

Mooney set off Feb. 19 in a 24-foot boat from Maspolamas, Gran Canaria. His journey is being done in honor of a brother who died of AIDS in 1983. Mooney is hoping to encourage voluntary HIV testing.

SAN FRANCISCO — A teary-eyed Dana Barks was almost speechless after officials for the San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge approved a $76 million funding package for a suicide barrier that could prevent people from jumping to their deaths.The bridge district's board of directors voted unanimously in favor Friday for the funding of a steel suicide net. The motion for the historic vote came from board member and former bridge district director John Moylan, whose grandson, Sean Moylan, jumped off the bridge to his death earlier this month.Seconds after the vote, the tears from many people in the standing-room-only crowd were followed by shouts of joy.