Aleksander Doba

A co-worker recently said to me: "Love is too big to control.  Just float with the motion of the ocean and you'll end up together if it's meant to be."  A few days later I read the story of Alexsander Doba.  


Doba recently completed the longest open-water crossing ever by a kayaker - at age 64.  3,320 miles.  It took him 99 days.  Doba spent the majority of the first two months battling abnormally brutal currents and winds.  Storms kept him awake all night, pounding his little kayak.  He compared it to being stuck in a floating coffin - pitch black, death howling all around him, completely alone and terrified.  When the storms broke and the currents were in his favor, he'd paddle hard to make the most of the momentum.  When they turned against him, Doba would give the horizon a fierce stare. He'd grip his paddle tight and battle the mighty Atlantic with all his will.  Two weeks before finishing, he wrote to his loved ones:  "I'm very tired. I dream to finally finish, wherever it will be. I'm afraid that the south winds push me so I have to paddle for many days. No! I want dry land as soon as possible." 


 Is Doba a little crazy? Sure.  Would he be better off floating with "the motion of the ocean"- ending up wherever he happened to land? Would he be happier? Probably.  But some love stories deserve a Doba-like effort.  Forget the ocean, it ain't that big.  Forget the sail and forget the motor.  Just give me a paddle, a kayak, and a huge hug in 99 days.