South African Chris Bertish completed 93-day Stand Up Paddle – reportedly a first SUP across an ocean
Chris completed his solo unassisted and unsupported 4050NM / 7500km paddle on March 9, 2017, 8am Antigua time / 2pm RSA / 4am USA time, he reported. Bertish launched off the coast of Africa, at Agadir, Morocco, on December 6, 2016, and ended in Antiqua.
“It took everything I had for over 5yrs, just get this project up and myself to the start line in Morocco after building the #Impifish for this specific goal and purpose in England! Then it took every fiber in my being to get through each and every day & every never ending night, day by day, stroke by stroke, over 2Million, as I paddled smiles across the Atlantic and onto the faces of millions of little children in South Africa… I took everything to stay alive for 93 days and to finish this, as giving up was never an option!”
He said the last 72 hours has been the most testing of almost the entire Crossing due to weather and the angles for the final approach.
The craft
Info from the website: The craft itself is just under 20 ft/ 6m in length and when fully loaded with equipment and supplies, the craft weighed approximately 1,350 lbs/600 kilos. The deck of the craft is equipped with four ports that allow Chris to store all of his freeze dried meals and 50 liters of emergency water for the 120 days duration of the Sup Crossing. The emergency water on board will also act as moveable ballast for the craft as supplies are diminished. The SUP Craft includes a rigging system for the use of a para-anchor, a specially designed parachute used under water. The back of the craft holds another storage compartment and a bank of additional solar panels. Inside Chris has stored the following: Emergency grab bag, Life raft, Water desalinator, Backup Manual water desalinator, Emergency flares, Repair tools, Main Steering devices and two backups. Read more here.
Website: https://chrisbertish.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialChrisBertish/
More arrival photos at SUP Magazine
#supcrossing #oceans
