No soft-pedal on this Atlantic crossing
NAVIGATING shark-infested waters, battling vicious storms and living on a diet of fruit, nuts and seeds while pedalling a customised boat from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — this is what explorer Davey du Plessis and his mother Robyn Wolff are up for.
With their new adventure, Extinction Six, they will cross the Atlantic Ocean on a customised 7m boat named Herbivore, which is powered solely by a pedal system with no engine or sail.
Du Plessis and Wolff are due to embark on their 6 450km, four-month ocean crossing this week.
It’s the first time that such a challenge will be undertaken.
Their goal is to create awareness about the damage humans are doing to the animal kingdom.
The adventure will be Du Plessis’s first since September 2012, when he was attacked while kayaking along the Ucayali River in Peru, one of the Amazon’s main tributaries.
His body was riddled with shotgun pellets.
From what he can recall, two thugs attacked him, stealing his camera equipment, money and other valuables.
But the ordeal, which saw him stare death in the face, did not faze him.
“It didn’t deter me from adventure. It deterred me from going to places where I’d be dealing with people.
“The only thing I can prepare for is to be challenged by nature, not by some guy with a gun.”
Du Plessis said he decided to take on the Atlantic Ocean to draw attention to his cause.
“The preparation for me involved two years of planning and getting the boat custombuilt.
“We can only take the bare essentials because of space constraints.
“We also had to work out what we are going to eat. I’m a raw vegan and my mom is a vegan,” he said.
At the beginning of the journey, they will survive on fresh fruit and vegetables.
Thereafter their diet will consist mainly of nuts, seeds and dried fruit.
“There will be no stops. We are heading directly for Brazil. We have catered to live on board for six months, if it takes that long.”
The mother and son team will also make their own fresh water using a desalination tank.
Du Plessis said: “It’s not really physically challenging, it’s more of a mental challenge.”
The pair are anticipating “big seas, huge waves and storms”.
“The boat is designed to be capsized, but it’s no fun being tossed around the ocean. Life on board is going to be confined and uncomfortable.
“We are hoping for a smooth passage. This is not about two people trying to change the world. It’s a tiny spark that will hopefully ignite a bigger fire.”
Du Plessis said this kind of adventure was expected of him but not his mom.
“My mom did this for personal reasons.
“She is 50 years old . . . she’s a woman. She wants to tell women that 50 is not a period in your life where everything has to go downhill.”
There will be no stops. We are heading directly for Brazil