Bart is back... Updated

Bart and Dagmar and Soleil returned today from Kauai to Maui, where he has been catching up on his sleep for a few days, looks relaxed and happy..


Quite a few of his friends surprised him at baggage claim!!

Aloha,
Andrea


photo & text credits Jimmie Hepp and Shawneen Shweitzer

Update from Maui News:
A Maui man believes he's set a record as the first person to make a solo crossing from the Big Island to Kauai on a stand-up paddleboard.
Bart de Zwart ended his 300-mile journey Sunday night, paddling into Kauai's Kalapaki Beach a few minutes before sunset. A day later, as he relaxed and recovered from the event, he said he felt surprisingly good physically, but reflected that the effort and concentration that went in to surviving alone at sea for five days and nights had been harder than he expected.
"I have to say, I think this is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," he said Monday. "Just being with the elements for 24 hours for five days - being wet for so many days."
De Zwart, 41, lives in Haiku and owns the Kanaha Kai Maui surf shop. In addition to other ocean sports, he is an experienced sailor who has sailed around the world.
De Zwart said he was inspired to plan the journey by learning about ancient Hawaiian voyagers, who paddled and sailed canoes from island to island and even across the Pacific.
"I also like to do something really hard and challenging," he said. "You appreciate people and life and food and the things around you a lot more."
He began preparing for the trip about six months ago, gathering the gear and safety equipment he would need and modifying a standard paddleboard with changes including a front rudder that would allow him to paddle through strong winds without having to strain himself by paddling only on one side.
After weeks of unusually windy conditions, de Zwart took advantage of a calm period and departed from the Big Island on June 21, launching at 8:30 p.m. in the hope that he could avoid strong daytime winds as he crossed the difficult Alenuihaha Channel.
"It worked, but at night it's also a lot harder, with the cross-chop," he said. "That was one of the harder parts of the trip."
Being unable to see the big swells as he paddled over them through the night also exacerbated a bout of seasickness, he said, which lasted around 24 to 36 hours.
By the next day, he was able to rest and eat as he passed Hana and cruised along Maui's north shore.
De Zwart said he made the decision to navigate to the north of the island chain, hoping that if he got into trouble the winds and ocean currents would blow him toward land - instead of out to sea.
Without a support boat, de Zwart had to be completely self-sufficient.
He packed about 120 pounds of water, food and gear on his board, eating freeze-dried meals he prepared in a special "oven" that used a chemical reaction to create heat. During the day, he snacked on granola bars, nuts, dried fruit, chocolate and sports drinks.
At night he raised navigation lights to avoid collisions with larger boats, then inflated a makeshift bed he had formed by gluing together several inflatable pool mattresses.
They made a comfortable bed, and de Zwart fastened some along the sides to form a "cradle," but he still had a hard time staying dry.
"When it's really rough and the waves start rolling in, then they sometimes pull you over," he said.
Off the coast of Molokai on his second night, de Zwart was washed overboard four times.
He took to sleeping in his wetsuit, and, for safety, he used at least two leashes at all times to keep himself fastened to his board and gear.

Bravo Bart!!

This post is dedicated to Bart De Zwart of Kanaha Kai Maui:

NAWILIWILI Kaua'i — The volleyball game kept going. The sun had long unleashed its palette of golden hues. And two ladies, Dagmar and Soleil de Zwart, waited silently.

Wrapped in their own thoughts, the small crowd which had collected around the grassy knoll fronting the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort and Beach Club offered consoling words to try and mask the unchanging scene of an empty beach and ocean.

Bart de Zwart, attempting the first-ever, Big Island-to-Kaua‘i crossing aboard a stand-up paddleboard, alone and unsupported, was supposed to land at 6 p.m., according to Dagmar.

It was now past 6:30 p.m. and there was no word, no phone call. Just the volleyball game that continued at Kalapaki.

“We’re waiting for the guy,” the players said.

Dagmar tapped the keys on the cell phone.

“Five or 10 minutes more,” she said, before diving back into the silence of her thoughts.

Those were agonizing minutes for the mother and daughter of the stand-up paddler from Maui who started “The Ultimate Crossing” Tuesday night from North Kohala on the Big Island, attempting the unprecedented 300-mile journey.

“As the support group began to grow, people kept telling me about the Guinness Record Book,” Dagmar said. “But you need at least two witnesses and Bart is paddling by himself.”

Soleil paced the water’s edge, clutching a teddy bear she had found while waiting the five days, the waves lapping between her toes.

“There he is!” someone shouted.

Flanked by a pair of stand-up paddlers who had gone to the Ninini Point Lighthouse on a practice run, they had run into Bart making his final few yards to Kalapaki Beach.

“We’ve been waiting since before 5,” said Mary and Gary Cate of Kansas City.

“We heard about it on TV and decided we wanted to see this.”

Slowly, the trio made its way to the beach. Dagmar and Soleil were at the head of the crowd which began clapping and heaping congratulations on the solo paddler.

That was 7:20 p.m., just about 10 minutes after making the first sighting.

“Wow! This feels funny,” Bart said after recovering from a small shore break. “People told me about this. I traveled around the world, but I never thought it would feel like this.”

He alternated his body balance between both legs, adjusting to the land after five days and nights on a 14-foot paddleboard.

“He has a lot of respect for the Hawaiian paddling and culture,” Dagmar said. “He always wanted to do this, hoping to retrace routes the Hawaiians used in their simple canoes.”

Bart, the owner of Kanaha Kai Maui surf shop, said he had been planning on this trip for six months.

“The paddling is the easy part,” he said.

“The hard part is being by yourself, eating, sleeping

and how to get around the

islands in the wind and swells.”

He said the trip took more than 215,000 “paddlestrokes.”

“The last few miles was the easy part,” he said. “When I started, the winds and swells kept me down on the board for hours before I was able to stand up and paddle.”

As the crowd waned with the disappearing daylight, Bart got help from spectators in moving his board to the room they were staying at in the Kaua‘i Marriott.

When asked about his future plans, his words were simple: “I don’t have any right now.”

Visit www.sup-crossing.blogspot.com for all the story, below the video of his arrival.
Bravo Bart... Congratulations from Torbole Lake Garda Paddlers