Latvian adventurer Carles Bardelis has spent 140 days traversing the Pacific Ocean on a wooden boat without meeting anyone on his way, and dreams of repeating the experience in which he succeeded in "the first solo flight on a rowing boat" from South America to Southeast Asia.
Bardelis started his almost two-year trip in Peru in July 2018, and arrived in French Polynesia nearly five months before ending the adventure in Malaysia last June.
Along the way, he was forced to confront sharks off Papua New Guinea and used a battery to replace a lost anchor. He also survived collisions after approaching many other boats. And his longest stay at sea lasted without anyone seeing nearly five months. "We cannot change the circumstances, but we can change our attitudes towards them," he told AFP in his native Latvia, after spending two weeks in compulsory quarantine upon his return from Malaysia. "Many people asked me whether I lost my mind or became crazy," said the 35-year-old. "No, I just enjoy it because it is my choice." Bardelis has documented his 26,000-kilometer journey through his Facebook page.
Bardelis practiced paddling for up to 13 hours a day to make his way from South America to Asia without an engine and sails on a seven-meter-long wooden boat covered with stickers of the sponsoring badges. The 2-meter rowing boat includes a small sleeping compartment and storage of supplies and equipment.
The Latvian adventurer documented his trip from Peru to Malaysia on the Ocean Rohing website, believed to be the first of its kind. "I am 200 percent sure that I made the first individual trip on a rowing boat from South America to Southeast Asia," Bardelis said.
This metaphorical adventure in economics and environmental sciences stopped with the peoples of Tuvalu, French Polynesia, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and others. He said that wherever he went, he looked like a contemporary Viking navigator, with blue eyes, long blonde hair and a wide beard, and locals were welcome everywhere. In Indonesia, residents helped him move his boat to shore and secure his way from obstacles.
Although he spent most of his time alone at sea, Bardelis explained that he had never felt lonely. "The ocean is full of life: I was not alone, but I was with birds, fish and whales," he said, noting that listening to blogs and audiobooks he uploaded while in the harbor also helped him withstand. Crossing the Pacific was not the first marine adventure of this Latvian. In 2016, Bardelis blew with a friend across the Atlantic from Namibia to Brazil. He later crossed South America on a tandem bike with his girlfriend at the time, before starting his solo adventure from Peru.
Bardelis said he wants to return to his boat in Malaysia as soon as the monsoon season ends, and start a new rowing adventure to reach Namibia, thus sailing around the world relying exclusively on his physical strength. "It will be easy to get on a sailing boat, but I like rowing, and using sails would be treachery, even if for myself," he added.