SPORTS

At 67 years old, a Polish kayaker completed the longest open-water kayaking expedition across the Atlantic in history—and won the People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year. (National Geographic Adventure)

“If 67-years-young can do it, you can do it, too.” Get started with some great ideas for outdoor activities.

Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers’ Toolkit—including today’s MapMaker Interactive map of Aleksander Doba’s journey across the Atlantic.

Discussion Ideas

• This is not Aleksander Doba’s first kayaking trip across the Atlantic (!!). In 2010, on the First Transatlantic Kayak Expedition, Doba kayaked from Dakar, Senegal, to Acarau, Brazil. Why do you think Doba considered this his “warm-up” trip? Compare the expedition routes here.
  • The first expedition was much shorter! The 2010 expedition crossed one of the narrowest points in the Atlantic Ocean. As Doba says, “The First Transatlantic Kayak Expedition was to check myself and my kayak. The second trip was to ‘raise the bar’.”

• Doba kayaked from Lisbon, Portugal, to New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Why do you think he plotted a slightly U-shaped trip, instead of crossing straight across the Atlantic? There are three major reasons, and a look at today’s MapMaker Interactive map might give you help with identifying one of them.
  • It makes for a longer, more challenging adventure, and Doba wanted to kayak across the Atlantic’s widest space.
  • Doba didn’t actually plot quite such a long voyage. According to Nat Geo, “storms and equipment failure threw Doba off course, tacking an additional 1,300 miles and two months onto a journey that already would have broken the record for the longest ever solo kayaking voyage.” Specifically, Doba battled unfavorable winds and currents in the Bermuda Triangle, and was ultimately forced to detour to the island of Bermuda to repair damage to his kayak’s rudder.
  • Overall, Doba’s route was able to follow powerful surface currents across the Atlantic.

• Take a quick look through our encyclopedic entry on ocean gyres. Did Doba’s Second Transatlantic Kayak Expedition take him “turning and turning in the widening gyre”? (Look it up!) Which gyre? Which currents contributed to Doba’s experience in the gyre?
  • Doba’s expedition took him on the southern part of the North Atlantic Gyre.
  • The currents that make up the southern North Atlantic Gyre, which Doba roughly followed, are the Canary Current, which flows from southern Europe to North Africa, and the North Atlantic Equatorial current, which crosses the ocean to the warm waters off Florida’s coast.

• Doba is planning to kayak across the Atlantic a third time! This time, he is planning to depart from New York City and land in Europe. What currents and gyres do you think he might piggyback on? Customize today’s MapMaker Interactive map to help plan the route!
  • Doba may kayak the northern part of the North Atlantic Gyre. He may kayak with the mighty Gulf Stream, a current that runs northward from southern Florida and becomes the North Atlantic Current as it flows eastward to Europe. (The Gulf Stream is so mighty, in fact, that Doba said the most difficult part of his journey was navigating across its choppy waters just days before he reached the Florida coast.)

• Read through Aleksander Doba’s inspiring thoughts in the Nat Geo Adventure article.
  • On wonder: “For me, fascinating are the moments of silence before a tropical storm. The water is calm, there is a light breeze and powerful storm clouds . . . I can sense the energy pulsing from breaking waves and the inevitability of a violent storm, which in the moment will embrace me. This beauty of mighty nature is fascinating.”
    • What inspires wonder and awe in your life?
  • On dreaming big: “Do not be afraid to have dreams. Turn your dreams into plans—ambitious plans—and then pursue those plans.”
    • What are some of your own ridiculously ambitious dreams—kayaking across the entire ocean by yourself? How can you “carefully and systematically prepare for the implementation of the ambitious plans”?
      • Use our terrific collection of Outdoor Family Fun ideas for inspiration—learn to track animals! Spot invasive species! Take a neighborhood inventory!

TEACHERS’ TOOLKIT

Nat Geo: Atlantic Kayaker Wins 2015 People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year

Nat Geo: “Aleksander the Great”‘s Second Transatlantic Kayak Expedition map

Nat Geo: The Kayaker: Aleksander Doba

Nat Geo: Outdoor Family Fun

Nat Geo: What is an ocean gyre?