HAVE PADDLE, WILL TRAVEL

Not only did this Cape Town hero break a world kayaking record, he also raised money to bring new smiles to 100 children

- NASIFA SULAIMAN

HE WASN’T sure he’d accomplish his mission – the last time he tried things didn’t go so well and he had to abort soon after he started.

But the second time proved to be the charm. And while you can hardly call a feat that involved 63 days at sea and almost 7 000km smooth sailing, Richard Kohler is now the proud holder of a world record.

The 53-year-old Cape Town kayaker is the first person to successfully paddle his way across the Southern Atlantic Ocean solo and unsupported. Richard and his kayak, Osiyeza – Zulu for the crossing – left Cape Town in December and arrived in Salvador, Brazil, on 19 February.

To claim the record, he had to touch a dock or land unsupported, but moments before reaching the shore, he realised there was no place to dock.

After tying Osiyeza to a buoy, Richard decided to swim ashore to fulfil the requirements and finally touched land.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I finally did it,” he says.

When YOU meets Richard at Brian’s Kayaks in Paarden Eiland, Cape Town, where he’s a partner, he looks completely different to the shaggy, salty seadog he was when he arrived in Brazil.

Gone are the long hair and beard – but the memories of his weeks on the open ocean are still very much intact. He especially recalls those final moments.

Richard needed evidence that he swam unassisted, which meant he had to hold a video camera in one hand while paddling with the other. Tired and unsteady on his feet, he finally made it – and he describes what happened next as surreal.

The beach was packed with locals as his wife, Judith (57), and team members welcomed him. And as soon as Bruno Machado, the Brazilian in charge of the Salvador arrangements, shouted out the news of his record, the crowd erupted.