Remy Bricka: The man who walks on water.
On 2 April 1988, a former schoolteacher and singer set out from Tenerife to cross the Atlantic Ocean. He finally arrived in Trinidad nearly two months later, on 31 May. What took so long? He was walking! Remy Bricka walked 3,502 miles (5,636km) across the Atlantic Ocean with polyester skis attached to his feet. Working under the same principles that are used in cross-country skiing, Bricka used a double-bladed paddle for locomotion. He attached an outrigger catamaran to his person so he would have somewhere to sleep, and also kept a water filter there so he could drink seawater. Bricka brought no food with him on this trip, but instead ate plankton and whatever fish landed on his catamaran as he walked. The entire feat earned him a position in the Guinness Book of World Records for "Furthest Distance Walking on Water," but Bricka also holds the speed record for that achievement, having walked one kilometer (on the Olympic swimming pool in Montréal) in just over seven minutes on 2 August 1989.
It is stories like this that remind me that anything is possible. I found this post on everything2.com. I remember reading about this man in a men's magazine a long time ago. Outdoor Magazine or Men's Journal or something like it. It was a list of epic adventures and accomplishments by people over the past few decades. This one in particular stuck out to me and whenever I think about taking on any particular adventure and have concerns about whether or not I can do it I always remember Remy.
A man who crossed an ocean by himself.
Walking.
On skies.
He didn't bring food. Just a passionate sense of adventure, trust and a dream waiting to be discovered. To remember once again what is possible and he did it. Almost Twice.
At the age of 50 he attempted to cross the Pacific Ocean from Los Angles to Sydney, Australia. He successfully ventured for 5 months from California to make it just south of Hawaii before needing to be rescued. The thought of being on something as unpredictable and alive as the ocean for over a 3000 miles by yourself while exposed to the elements, the weather, the darkness of night and the heat of the day . . .
alone
over a bed of the deepest waters on the planet
on skies
suddenly makes everything else seem possible and puts my fears in perspective.
I can only image what that journey must have been like. To dive that deep and put your complete trust in yourself, source, God, your dream or something. Perhaps it was just passion. It blows my mind this man is not more well known. When you pull up his wikipedia page it focuses primarily on his music career as a one man band with what feels like a side note about his journey across the Atlantic.
This is an epic reminder that the elements aren't here to be conquered. They are here to play with us and take us on playful, epic adventures that help remind us what is possible, feel what it is to be alive and reconnect to the inherent magic that rests dormant within us and all that is around us. Remembering that we are not conquering the elements. We are co-creating with them. Love stories that we live and write to ourselves and share with the world to inspire us to create and expand beyond what we though we were and what was possible. Thank you Remi.
Remi Bricka (2014)
Photo Credit: http://jeanlucwozniak2014.over-blog.com/2014/12/remy-bricka-spiderman-et-les-autres.html