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South African surfer crosses the Atlantic alone on a paddleboard

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Chris Bertish has become the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean alone and unaided on a paddleboard.

He docked in Antigua last Thursday after a 93-day ocean crossing that began Dec. 6 from Agadir, Morocco. Bertisch had originally planned to finish in Florida, but due to poor weather forecasts, he changed the final destination of the route.

The South African made 2 million paddles over the 4,000-mile journey across the Atlantic, working 12-15 hours each day.

«As I approach the outer reaches of English Harbor, the energy and adrenaline is still racing through me, the pain in my shoulder, arms and legs fading away, replaced by a sense of inner exhilaration and joy»," Bertisch says in his latest journal entry.

Bertisch sailed across the Atlantic on a 20-foot paddleboard designed by Phil Morrison. The paddleboard has a small waterproof compartment at the front for navigation equipment, which can also be used as shelter in case of bad weather. It is designed to self-heal after a capsize.

During the voyage, Bertisch had to deal with numerous leaks and equipment failures. He was injured by a tear in the rotator cuff of his shoulder joint. Several times sharks tasted what his board tasted like. Neither this nor the storms, high winds and exhaustion prevented him from successfully completing the mission. Preparing to cross the Atlantic on a paddleboard took five years.

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