Most people’s idea of extraordinary is just another doable challenge for one man from Spain, who just set a new world record for paddleboarding without assistance from California, U.S. to Hawaii.
Antonio de la Rosa started the journey in June this year, in San Francisco, California, CNN reports. 76 days and 2,951 miles later (and 25 pound lighter), he docked in Oahu, Hawaii, looking for a beer and a good hamburger.
De la Rosa turned 50 while on the journey and celebrated with “one small cookie,” he says for the outlet. He didn’t have much time for celebrating or sleeping, for that matter, while on his specially-designed stand-up paddleboard: he had to paddle continuously and keep an eye on the GPS to make sure he didn’t steer off course.
On a good day, he would paddle around 40 or 50 miles, but on bad days when the current wouldn’t help him, he could only make it 10. His paddleboard included a small sleeping unit, but he didn’t get to use it that much because he had to be on the alert at all times.
The unit also included food, solar panels for his communications system and GPS, a desalinization system for water, a GoPro camera for documenting every day, and other necessities. There was no motor on it, with de la Rosa joking that “my arms and my legs are my motor.”
“I am feeling so good after 76 days in the middle of the ocean,” de la Rosa says. “I love this kind of life.”
The goal of the expedition was to draw attention to the plastic pollution in our oceans. De la Rosa says not a day went by without him seeing plastic floating around him, so the fact that he documented most of the journey for social media should help him with raining awareness.
After some well-deserved rest, de la Rosa will start planning his next challenge, of which he already has a vague idea. He wouldn’t go into details, but he says it will most likely be on the ground, somewhere cold.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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