U.S. Man Attempts First Stand-Up Paddleboard Crossing From Cuba To Florida
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DAYTONA BEACH, FL - JULY 06: NASCAR Driver Carl Edwards stand-up paddleboards on Lake Lloyd at Daytona International Speedway on July 6, 2012 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR) (2012 Getty Images)
Attempts to swim the Florida Straits between Cuba and Key West have all failed because of fatigue, sharks or hundreds of jellyfish.
In a bid to complete the journey, one Tennessee man has decided that success in crossing the straits lies in a stand-up paddleboard (SUP).
U.S. paddleboarder Benjamin Friberg aims to jump on his SUP – basically a giant, thick surfboard that is stable enough to paddled like a kayak – for the journey he said he hoped would promote "peace and love" between Cuba and the United States, according to Business Insider.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This trip is to promote peace and love and friendship between the people of Cuba and the United States, as well as a healthy lifestyle," Friberg said before leaving Havana's Marina Hemingway.
Friberg also added that he hopes to make the 105-mile crossing between the Cuban capital of Havana and Key West in about 20 hours.
"I'm not sure. It depends on the challenges I will face — waves, winds, current, all the variables," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Three swimmers have tried – and failed – to make the hazardous crossing in the past two years, most recently U.S. endurance swimmer Diana Nyad gave her latest attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.
The swimmer had completed more than half of the103-mile journey.
"Diana has been pulled from the water," her team said in a brief announcement around 8:00 a.m. EDT on the blog it has continually updated with news about Nyad's crossing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If she had completed the feat, Nyad would have become the first person to swim across the Florida Strait without a shark cage.
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