Second-Ever CA-to-Hello Solo Kayak Journey Calls for Persistence, Endurance

Cyril Derreumaux has done his solo kayak vacation from California to Hawaii. He arrived at Hilo on Sept. 20 following 92 days at sea. He’s only the second person to make the arduous journey by kayak.

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Editor’s take note: This write-up was originally published on Explorersweb.

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Cyril Derreumaux pushed off from Monterey, Calif., on June 21 in the firm of well-wishers paddling a handful of strokes beside him. Then came 3 months of lonely energy. He experienced initially hoped to complete the 2,761-mile vacation to Waikiki, Hawaii, in 70 days, but tough conditions slowed his progress.

Nevertheless, the seasoned paddler inevitably prevailed. Results ought to flavor even sweeter in the memory of his previous try, which finished immediately after just 6 times and 70 miles.

Derreumaux’s entire tracker route across the Pacific Ocean (display capture/solokayaktohawaii.com/tracker)

A Tough Start out

For the 1st several months, opposite winds pushed Derreumaux in the completely wrong course. Fairly than making progress, the day by day target turned not getting rid of length. Consistent swells built him seasick, and he felt really weak. On 7 days two, the tubing that held his steering line disconnected and enable water into the cabin.

Then just after 46 days, his watermaker broke. From that place on, as effectively as rowing for 10 to 12 hrs a working day, he also put in 1-1.5 several hours manually building clean h2o. And he expended quite a few lousy-temperature times in his small cabin, on sea anchor.

It promptly turned clear that the journey would just take a lot more than 70 times. By the midway point, he commenced rationing meals. While he experienced calculated 6,000 energy a day to fuel all that rowing, he shed pounds swiftly, even before rationing. With it, he commenced to question regardless of whether he would make it in time.

At the conclude of August, he decided to alter his Hawaiian endpoint. Instead than land in Waikiki, he redirected to Hilo. This lower 6 days of paddling from the journey. It also meant that he experienced sufficient food items to make the distance without having resorting to having toothpaste, like the initial California-to-Hawaii kayaker, Ed Gillet, had done.

Staying Entertained: Tunes, Seinfeld, and Dolphins

Derreumaux entertained himself by listening to songs practically continuously. Before leaving, he experienced even downloaded Seinfeld to enjoy at night time when he was not rowing.

Together the way, he savored looking at dolphins swim and bounce about the boat. By the finish, hundreds of them experienced occur to check out. Around the very last handful of times of the voyage, he even had schools of mahi-mahi adhering to him.

“A mahi-mahi pet fish followed me all working day, I cherished it!” he wrote on social media. “[It] still left me yesterday early morning. I guess he did not like when I performed Celine Dion.”

As the journey progressed, Derreumaux became far more calm and attuned to his environment. He found not viewing himself in a mirror to be a extremely “freeing encounter.” He also founded a variety of symbiosis with his custom made-built boat, “Valentine.”

“I know her so properly now,” he claimed. “I know how she behaves in what kind of waters, I know all the noises she can make and what they imply, I could uncover everything in the dim … it’s extremely unique.”

Ed Gillet’s Example Overcoming Failure

Ed Gillet’s authentic 1987 journey to start with influenced Derreumaux. Gillet was considerably less significant-tech. He made use of an off-the-shelf kayak — no sleeping cabin, no prolonged storage — and experienced no implies of conversation for most of the journey. Just after 3 months at sea, Derreumaux claimed, “I am far more in awe of Ed Gillet and what he attained [than ever].”

He initial tried the journey in 2021 but needed rescue following 6 times. Storms and swells harmed his boat and brought on water to leak into the cabin. With ailments established to worsen, he deserted the crossing.

But inspite of that uncomfortable conclude, Derreumaux channeled the failure into bettering his method and boat.

He modified the sea anchor technique, mounted a satellite interaction procedure, and added both equally a manual bilge pump and side panels to hold water out of the cockpit. He also experienced to be a lot more common with how his kayak behaved in substantial winds, he explained to Honolulu’s KHON 2.

This was not Derreumaux’s initial time crossing the ocean from California to Hawaii. In 2016, he and his teammates broke the velocity history for rowing in the Terrific Pacific Race. Paddlers have since damaged the mark, but the 4-gentleman team coated the around 2,800 miles from Monterey, Calif., to Oahu, Hawaii, in 39 times, 9 hours, and 56 minutes.

Overwhelmed at the end line (image/Tom Gomes)

In the stop, adjustment, knowledge, and persistence all additional up to accomplishment for the paddler. He signed off on his 92-working day voyage with messages of gratitude to his supporters and staff.