A south African man, Chris Bertish has become the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a stand-up paddle board after completing 4,500 nautical miles voyage alone at sea.
The big wave surfer and Guinness World Record-holder crossed the Atlantic Ocean, setting off from Agadir Morocco on December 6 and arriving at English Harbour, Antigua on the morning of March 9, local time.
Bertish’s stand-up paddleboard (SUP) may not be an off-the shelf job it’s a custom-made, 1,360 lbs, 20-foot-long vessel fitted with a tiny cabin and solar panels — but that doesn’t mean the journey was any less daunting.
For 93 days Bertish has paddled the equivalent of a marathon a day, skirting the Canary Islands before heading into the open ocean and aiming for the Caribbean. Along the way he also set the record for the furthest distance traveled solo, unsupported and unassisted over open ocean in a day (71.96 miles).
He celebrated Christmas aboard and rang in the New Year with a dram of scotch. Keeping a captain’s log on Facebook, Bertish has posted his encounters with puffer fish and turtles, cargo ships and yachts — the latter dropping off a bag of treats for the paddler and money for Bertish’s charitable causes.
Working with charities Signature of Hope Trust, the Lunchbox Foundation and Operation Smile, Bertish aims to raise enough money to build at least five schools in South Africa, provide monthly dividends to feed and educate thousands of children and pay for surgeons to carry out life-changing cleft lip and palate operations. As of today, Bertish has raised R5,460,030 ($412,000).
The trans-Atlantic crossing is only the latest feat in the South African’s career. Previously he’s surfed some of the biggest waves ever recorded (he won the Maverick Big Wave Invitational, California 2010 on borrowed equipment, no less), set the world record for open ocean 12-hour non-stop SUP in South Africa, 2013, and set the fastest time crossing the English Channel on an SUP in 2013 (5 hours, 26 minutes).
Writing on Facebook, the South African’s inspirational attitude suggests there will be plenty more record-breaking escapades to come:
“The more time I can spend in the ocean, in any shape or form, the better. I’m a waterman and the ocean is my inspiration. It’s where I truly feel alive, comfortable, content, happy and free,” he says.
