Cape Town – A world first solo stand-up paddle crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by South African big wave surfing champion Chris Bertish has been commemorated in a trilogy of oil paintings by local artist Michael Lee.
The paintings have been designed to inspire South Africans to achieve their dreams, even when the odds are against them.
In March last year, after 93 days at sea, Cape Town-based Bertish arrived at the Pillars of Hercules at the Caribbean island of Antigua.
Beginning in Agadir, Morocco, it took him more than 2.5 million paddle strokes to navigate the 7 500km of ocean.
Now a motivational speaker, Bertish survived many dangers, including storms, shark attacks and a giant squid attempting to drag his vessel to the bottom of the ocean.
Lee said: “This was an exceptional feat of human endurance and courage by a fellow countryman.
“I wanted to capture the spirit of Chris’s journey in a series of paintings that would do justice to his historic achievement.”
The paintings, each measuring 101cm by 75cm, are titled Atlantic Solo, Atlantic Soul and Atlantic Epic.
The first, mostly in monochrome, depicts Bertish battling a wild storm at night and alludes to Hokusai’s famous Japanese print The Great Wave.
Atlantic Soul switches to full colour to show a tranquil scene of equilibrium between Bertish, his vessel, an aquamarine ocean and some of the aquatic wildlife that befriended him on his journey.
The third piece, Atlantic Epic, shows Bertish setting off a flare to celebrate his arrival in Antigua against the spectacular cliffs of the Pillars of Hercules.
Lee has set aside Atlantic Soul for auction to contribute to Bertish’s work as a philanthropist for non-profit organisations such as Operation Smile, which performs surgeries to repair cleft palates of children from poor backgrounds.
Another charity that benefited from Bertish’s trip was The Lunchbox Fund: for every stroke paddled in the transatlantic epic, a meal was bought for a school child in need.