History tells us that the Atlantic was first crossed by Scandinavians (Erik the Red), then by the Spaniards in 1492 (Christopher Columbus) and then by the Poms in 1496 (John Cabot). Hard men who weren’t scared of the vast seas or the unknown. Fast forward 500 years to when a few brave (mad) men (and women) decided to do it solo in tiny little boats.
This means doing everything, ‘stok steen aleen’. Rowing or paddling. Navigating. Steering. Managing power. Making water. Cooking. Taking care of the boat. Taking care of ones-self. Watching out for ships and whales. More rowing. Day after day after day. Month after month. Until land arrives. Not as part of an event. Not with others. But doing it all alone.
Frenchman, Gérard d’Aboville is credited with the first solo crossing of the Atlantic, rowing 5600km in 72 days from Cape Cod to Brittany in 1980. In 1984, Brazilian adventurer Amyr Klink made the first South Atlantic solo crossing, rowing from Namibia to Brazil in 100 days.
American Tori Murden McClure became the first woman to solo the Atlantic Ocean in 1999 when she reached Guadeloupe from the Canary Islands after rowing for 81 days and 4800km.
Aleksander Doba, known as the Polish Pensioner Adventurer, did 3 solo Atlantic crossings in his late 60’s and early 70’s. The first was a 5500km, 99 day trip from Dakar Senegal to Aarau Brazil in 2010. The second was a 12400km, 167 day epic from Lisbon to Florida in 2013, and the third was an 8100km, 110 day trip from New Jersey to Le Conquet France in 2017. He was different to d’Aboville, Klink and McClure in that he came from a canoeing background (where we look where we are going), so he paddled rather than rowed his boats.
In 2021, South African sailor and surfski paddler Richard Kohler paddled the Osiyeza (‘The Crossing’ and the Johnny Clegg Savuka song) 6400km in 63 days from Cape Town, to Salvador, Brazil making this the second longest solo crossing of the South Atlantic.
To date there have been less than 200 solo crossings of the Atlantic, with only 2 deaths in recent years. In comparison Everest has been summited almost 12000 times, and over 340 have died trying. Which reaffirms just how niche paddling (and/or rowing) is, and it also suggests that a solo Atlantic crossing, as mad as it sounds, is less risky than tackling Everest.
Now our very own Gerhard Moolies Madman Moolman, despite having found (and not scared off) a really nice girlfriend, has decided he also wants to do a solo crossing. His plans are to go from Cape Verde to French Guiana, a 4 000km journey which he expects to take 7 weeks. As a friend and sponsor of Kohler’s crossing, Moolies took over the Osiyeza from Richard, and then made some modifications, the most notable being that the seasoned paddler now wants to become a rower and go backwards across the Atlantic, although he isn’t rowing with oars. Being the engineer that he is, Moolies has built an ergo rowing contraption that drives a propeller. We asked d’Aboville what he thought of this, but we couldn’t understand his French.
This won’t be Moolies’ first ocean adventure. He has successfully conquered numerous High Altitude Surf Ski Challenges, Pete Marlins, Cape Points and PE2 EL’s. He has paddled the coasts of Mauritius, Madagascar and Reunion and even did a Robben Island swim, just to impress a girl. Moolies also holds the Guinness World Record for the longest solo journey on a Surf Ski when he paddled 6 150km over 193 days between Hout Bay and Lamu Kenya, back in 2002. For a Vaalie, he isn’t too bad on the sea, but he has made some sobering mistakes. A few years ago he joined an exclusive club of seamen that have had to abandon ship in the Knysna Heads. His boat was trashed, plus he lost his pants, but on the upside, he lived to tell the tale.
Moolies flies to Cape Verde on Friday and expects to start his voyage on 28th November. We hope he will pack himself a beer for Christmas day, and a bottle of rum for rough nights, but understanding the space constraints, many from Dabs have promised to drink for (and to) him; Cheers Moolies! Our message to Moolies before he departs is this: “Be safe out there, get a wing mirror so you can see all the ships, the whales and the land of French Guiana. We look forward to you regaling us with tall tales when you get home; enjoy it all you mal man…”
Moolies has a webpage www.gerhardmoolman.com and we will share social media sites when they are up. Go you Madman Moolies!
