Yesterday, Cyril Derreumaux completed his solo kayak journey across the Atlantic Ocean in 71 days, 14 hours, and 57 minutes. He has thus become the first person to kayak alone across both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
Derreumaux left from La Restinga in the Canary Islands on Dec. 23, 2024 and began paddling 4,630km to Martinique.
The early weeks were a struggle. The first few days featured seasickness, lack of sleep, and the aches of getting used to paddling at least 10 hours a day. Then he had to contend with constantly changing winds. Often, he made progress during the day only to drift back significantly at night. Several times, he had to take refuge in his cabin, put the kayak on its para-anchor, and wait out the strong winds and waves.
Valentine is no off-the-shelf kayak. It was custom-built for ocean crossings. Most significantly, it has an enclosed cabin for sleeping. It also has solar panels, an external antenna for making phone calls to his land team, and a pedal system. This means that besides paddling, Derreumaux was able to pedal to propel himself forward.
After the first few weeks, the weather became slightly more favorable. Once in a while, it even helped him go in the right direction
Image: Cyril Derreumaux
Blisters and sores
Nevertheless, the constant exposure to saltwater took a toll on his body. His hands, feet, and back have suffered the most. Blisters and sores couldn’t heal due to the constant dampness. This situation worsened on day 55 when his electric water maker broke. Since then, washing properly was difficult, and he relied mainly on baby wipes. In his near-daily updates, he noted that mushrooms seemed to be growing under his fingernails, as they did on his Pacific crossing.
The failure of his water maker also meant that desalinating seawater into drinking water was slow and difficult. He had to filter manually, a time-consuming and physically demanding process that gave him two bottles of water at lunchtime and another at the end of the day.
Seaweed obstacle
As he neared the Caribbean islands, another unexpected challenge slowed him down — Sargassum seaweed. Vast patches of the floating algae forced him to alter his course to keep it from tangling in his rudder. At one point, he found himself trapped in a dense patch the size of two football fields, struggling to navigate through the thick mass.
Despite everything, Derreumaux has stayed remarkably upbeat. Listening to music every day and getting short updates from his brother about life at home have kept him feeling positive through the months of isolation.
Heading into the last few hours of the paddle. Photo: Cyril Derreumaux
During the final two days of his paddle, the current pushed him northwest.
“I had to paddle at 240 degrees (which is southwest) to be able to keep going west,” he wrote.
Last night, his family boated out to accompany him for the last few kilometers of his journey.
