If you’ve been paddleboarding before, you’ll be very much aware that, while it seems like a fairly peaceful way to exercise, damn, does it work your abs.
So spare a thought for Chris Bertish. The South African daredevil decided to attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean purely on a stand-up paddleboard (SUP).
And he did it.
He’s the first person to complete a solo unassisted transatlantic SUP crossing, which meant being at sea for more than 93 days, and paddling some 4,000 miles.
Take a look at the vessel though … that ain’t no normal paddleboard. In fact, it took months to build, is 20ft in length and has a watertight main cabin.
Bertish took part in the project to raise money for charity.
And as he set out from Agadir in Morocco, around the Canary Islands, across the Atlantic Ocean, finishing in Antigua’s English Harbour, he faced some pretty harrowing challenges.
He told a press conference, which was posted to the Facebook page for Sup the Mag, about his difficulties getting to the Canary Islands along the way.
Bertish and his paddleboard got hit by a giant storm with 20ft waves and 30-40 knots of wind. And he was confronted by what he says was either a giant squid or a whale.
“It was trying to pull me through the waves,” he added. “It was like something out of some science fiction film.”
Detailed updates about Bertish’s adventure were posted to his Facebook page throughout and there was also a live tracker on his website.
Captains Log… Ocean Date: Min 6th Feb… – Chris Bertish- I’MPossible | Facebook
Plus, his Instagram showed off some of the pretty great views he had along the way. Well, ocean views anyway…
Certainly makes us want us to be a bit adventurous this weekend. But maybe nothing that involves scary-sounding giant squid…
