Polish grandpa heads from New York to Portugal ... in a kayak

Polish kayaker Aleksander Doba (also inset) sails next to the Statue of Liberty at the start of his transatlantic kayak adventure from New York to Lisbon on May 29, in New York. (AP) A Polish grandfather left New York Sunday on his third solo trans-Atlantic crossing in a kayak, aiming to arrive in Portugal in time to celebrate his 70th birthday on firm ground in September.

Aleksander Doba paddled off from the tip of Manhattan after doing interviews and posing for selfies with a crowd of some 100 onlookers.

A star at home, Doba gained global attention when he was named a National Geographic adventurer of the year in 2015. At that point, he already had two solo Atlantic kayak crossings under his belt.

The first, between October 2010 and February 2011, took him across one of the narrowest points of the ocean from the Senegalese capital Dakar to the Brazilian city of Acarau.

“During the expedition bandits attacked me twice and I was robbed of almost everything,” he said on his website. The second saw him set off from Lisbon in October 2013 and arrive in Florida in April the following year, navigating ocean swells and tempestuous weather.

On Sunday, he embarked on what he has called his “hardest” journey yet, a 3,700-mile (6,000-kilometer) crossing through storm zones in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic.

“I know that this will be the toughest of the three,” he said Sunday through a translator.

“The water is cold. There are a lot more currents and storms predicted — this will be interesting.

“I believe now I’m only dealing with nature. I know how to deal with nature and what to expect.”

Regardless of the obstacles, Doba — also an avid rock-climber, parachutist, glider pilot, sailor and yacht skipper — is determined to make it to the Portuguese capital in time to celebrate his 70th birthday on Sept 9.

“I planned, from the beginning, to make a circle,” Doba said, recalling how he planned his adventure from Europe or Africa to South America, from South America to the United States and from there to Europe. “My dream is to finish this.” (AFP)