He always won the university kayak championships, in the placid waters of Polish rivers. An indication that still left every type of possible perplexity when the paddle had to move into the open sea. He had studied mechanical engineering, Alex Dobathe sailor who did not want to know about the gentle waves. Full beard, bright eyes, he thought frantically about the challenge with the salty vortices, even if he always put it off. The flirtation with this light vessel – the Kayak, in fact – began in 1980. The one with the open expanses, much later.
We even had to wait until 1999 for a decision to be made. Baltic Seaan expedition together with some companions: over 4 thousand km covered and intense paddling for 101 days. He was no longer a boy, given that the registry read 1946, but he still defended himself quite well. However, he would still need time to develop another conviction. He could have been more daring. He could extend the scope of the challenge. He could do it himself.
As, in 2010, at the age of 65this restless Polish sailor had finally made up his mind. He would have crossed rowing the Atlantic Ocean. With a modified kayaklonger and stronger than the standard models, but still it was an absolutely light boat, a yellow colored bubble destined to be enveloped by the immensity of blue all around. The age, the distance, the dangers to face: everything indicated how crazy the undertaking promised to be. But he shrugged. He simply wanted to do it. And he would have done it: 99 days in total, from the coasts of Senegal to those of Brazil. First human in history to cover the giant arm of salt water from one continent to another in this way. Kg lost: 14. Average speed: 2 and a half km.
It still wasn’t enough. Two years later he doubled the businessstarting this time from Lisbon to reach the golden beaches of Florida. This time things don’t go exactly as planned. The adverse currents forced him to make inhuman efforts and, once he arrived in Bermuda, he was forced to moor for many days. It will take him 196, in the end, to complete this second undertaking. During the journey the electronic equipment of his kayak breaks down and he is isolated for 47 days. At a certain point a large merchant ship approaches him, which has been looking for him for two days. In fact, Doba left a distress signal by mistake and, when they approached him, he simply said that he was fine and that he had to continue.
He made his last crossing at the age of 70. From the coasts of New Jersey to the Isles of Scilly, a small archipelago south-west of England. Four thousand nautical miles in all, with a serious difficulty that manifests itself not so much in the middle of the ocean, but near the Strait of Dover, crowded every day by at least 500 large boats. Doba manages to avoid them all, just as he emerged unscathed from the storms that had raged in the Atlantic. “This is truly one of the most extreme sports in the world – he will say upon arrival – comparable, in terms of difficulty, to a launch into space”. It is no coincidence that NASA will study its performances.
Alex
he will die in 2021, shortly after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Witnesses remember seeing him simply lean against a rock to close his eyes. The worthy final chapter of an existence devoted to adventure.