Daredevil just crossed the Atlantic in the most epic way

"It just seems mind-boggling that I'm just alive at all."
 By 
Marissa Wenzke
 on 

Well, that's one way to get an ab workout.

A South African man named Chris Bertish has just become the very first human being to cross the entire Atlantic Ocean on a stand-up paddleboard.

He made the fierce 4,050-mile journey alone at sea over 93 days, The Guardian reports, crossing from Agadir, Morocco to Antigua's English Harbor.

He stood, he paddled, and he prevailed, traveling an average of about 43 miles a day and pulling through an incredible 60 miles on one of the last days.

Of course crossing the second largest ocean in the world doesn't come without its challenges. Upon arriving in Antigua, Bertish said at a press conference that his last night was so intense, he didn't know if he'd survive.

"When I look at the conditions we had last night, it just seems mind-boggling that I'm just alive at all, to be perfectly honest," he said at the conference, a video of which was posted to Facebook by paddling outlet Sup the Mag.

Among one of his more harrowing stories was the time he faced giant squids and whales in the midst of a storm in the Canary Islands. With 20-foot waves raging around him, the animals before him threatened to topple over his giant board.

"I was getting pulled down through waves by a creature," he said. "It was like something out of some science fiction film."

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The big wave surfer and sailor also won the world-renowned Mavericks Surf Contest in California, with waves at the beach there reaching up to 60 feet high.

His journey across the Atlantic was completed on a custom built board that's 20 feet long, costs about $120,000 and took six months to construct, according to The Guardian.

Now all he has to do is cross the Pacific Ocean.

Topics Social Media

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Marissa Wenzke

Marissa is a real-time news intern at the LA office. She has a bachelor's degree in political science from UC Santa Barbara and a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. She's a free spirit.

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