Aleksander “Olek” Doba has had to contend with powerful storms, months of solitude and broken equipment and a unplanned stay in Bermuda in trying to paddle from continent to continent across the Atlantic Ocean.
But after more than 5,000 miles of a journey — albeit an interrupted one — that began in October, the 67-year-old Polish Kayaker is set to arrive at his originally intended destination in New Smyrna Beach later this week, said his friend and fellow explorer Piotr Chmielinski.
“At this point we expect from Wednesday night to Friday morning,” said a hopeful Chmielinski.
Doba, a retired engineer, began his solo expedition to cross the Atlantic Ocean on October 5th in Lisbon, Portugal. He paddled some 4,500 miles before the rudder fell off his 21-foot-long kayak on February 13th. He made it to Bermuda on February 24th on his own power and the rudder was repaired. Then, on March 23rd, Doba and his kayak hitched a ride with the ship, “The Spirit of Bermuda,” a replica of a 19th century Royal Navy warship that took Doba back to the location where he was on January 10th before a series of storms pushed him hundreds of miles off his original course.
Before he arrived in Bermuda, Doba was able to travel 20 to 25 miles a day, battling storms for more than a month.
Afforded better weather since he left Bermuda, Doba has been regularly clocking more than 50 miles a day, easily traversing the remaining 700 or so miles to New Smyrna. “(It’s) like he’s got sails or two engines,” Chmielinski joked.
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