It’s hard to believe how quickly time has passed since kicking off the execution of the Ocean Crossing preparation to completion and the ongoing reach and impact the adventure has had. To date, over 700,000 views across social media platforms and the numbers keep growing.
Initially I had planned to complete the Ocean Crossing in December of 2024, however in early October of 2024 I was diagnosed with a heart problem that has threatened my ability to keep flying. There were also several other logistical challenges that threatened the trip and ultimately I placed the trip on hold.
Having addressed my health issues in the first half of 2025, I once again kicked off the planning in September 2025 and sought sponsors to help make the Paramotor Ocean Crossing a reality. The renewed interest was inspiring and my energy increased rapidly. By the end of October equipment was coming and in November my training and equipment preparation was well under way.
Now older and with personal health setbacks the physical demands of training and building strength were great and now working with equipment in excess of 120lbs/55 kg the first few weeks were met with significant back pain that had me laid up for a few days. A few days rest and a couple weeks later and the work paid off. I felt good and equipment testing was progressing.
December 12th rolled around and the trek from California to Florida had begun. Driving the 2200 miles with me I was joined by my girlfriend and her trusted dog Yoshi, and 6 days later we arrived in Lake Wales Florida at Aviator Paramotors. Things moved quickly with final testing, tuning and interviews about the adventure.
During the drive across the country to Florida, I learned that there would be a 30nm Presidential TFR(Temporary Flight Restriction) in place around West Palm and this would necessitate changing my route and making it much longer than initially planned. Fortunately the move to Stuart Witham Airport for the now 90 mile ‘Training Flight’ also included an Immigration Port of entry and removed the need to return to West Palm International which is a much busier airport with big airplanes.
The weather had quickly come together as if ordered by meteorologist Dave Wert and positioned ourselves on December 21st. The next morning to my great surprise, not only was I joined by Dave Wert and John Rippa, but was also joined by Leah Catula and USPPA President Ghada Baz and several more people to see me off for the first International Foot-Launch Paramotor flight to the Bahamas with the plan to return back into the USA the same day.
The launch went flawlessly on the Dudek Snake 4 22m that I had borrowed from John, and my Corsair Black Devil and Helix prop sprang to life sending me in the sky to 5000 feel over the ocean. While I had crossed 14 miles of water before, no amount of prior experience truly prepares you for when you can no longer see land. Relying on GPS and training and the smooth hum of my engine I settled in for the 2 hour 30 minute flight.
Following the planned route as tightly as possible and dropping down through holes in the clouds I was finally able to see land for the first time in hours. It didn’t take long but I soon reached land and instead of heading to the airport elected to land on the grass patch right next to the marine immigration office where my landing was captured by a tourist.
Having completed Immigration and Customs I set about refueling and preparing for the return flight. I called US Customs and Border Protection and secured my permission to return and approval to land. The winds had picked up to about 10 miles an hour and controlling a 22m wing was a little challenging with the full 5 gallons of fuel possible as a precaution given the winds on the return flight might not co-operate and knowing I wouldn’t be able to change shorten my route due to the TFR. The high winds turned out to be a blessing and within just a few steps I was airborne and well on my way back to the USA.
The return flight required flying at just 1500 feet above the sea to avoid the stronger head winds higher. This was uncomfortable given it significantly reduced the time to handle an emergency situation. Closely monitoring progress, ATC and the Stuart tower were updated by a member of my team when I was 15 miles from the airport. My radio and custom antenna made my Nick Garner worked flawlessly and my return to the airport went flawlessly.
Just 2 hours and 26 minutes later I had landed back in Stuart and was marshalled in and quickly cleared immigration and customs before egressing and being met once again by friends.
I had succeeded, but I have to admit it took a few days to let it all sink in, and I wasn’t took excited about trying to cover more than twice the distance for the main run to Nassau.
Shortly after Christmas preparation and weather monitoring moved into high gear near Homestead Miami which was now the most viable location to launch from to cover the 185 + mile Ocean Crossing. The route now much further south removed opportunities to divert to Bimini and as such I would be covering a much greater distance between land masses. Much riskier!
The day approached and Lindsay(girlfriend) and I drove to the field where I prepared the motor for the main event. It was a cool morning with wind exceeding 8 mph and a lot of clouds. Determined I pressed on!
At 08:32 on Tuesday December 30 2025 I launched my Corsair Black Devil into the air, this time with the trusty DaVinci Disco 22m and that had proven in multiple tests to have the efficiency needed to make the journey on just 5 gallons of fuel.
Reaching the ocean, I did one last 360° turn and got on track and began to climb. Slow but steady I gradually reached a comfortable altitude and as fuel burned off continued to climb reaching over 8000 feet during the flight.
The cloud layers had proven more than expected. Not wishing to risk fuel and coming up short of land I wasn’t willing to give up altitude and going over or around them wasn’t an option, flying through them was necessary. This was pretty extreme! The air was very rough requiring a great deal of active piloting and the water poured off the wing and lines. Not something I want to do again even with the ADSB providing safety and transmitting my position so other aircraft could see me.
3 hours passed and small atolls began to appear and I was able to see the island I would land at if the fuel assessment wouldn’t make Nassau possible. To my delight the fuel burn had matched incredibly well and there would be fuel to spare. I pressed on and threaded the needle north of the island before heading directly towards the Nassau airport.
10 miles out I called the airport on the radio — no response. This was a problem as it is a towered airport and I needed permission to land. I hoped however that the flight plan I had filed and activated would at least have them informed of my intention to arrive. Another few miles and I tried again without success after checking frequency and connections. Landing at the airport was necessary as the legal port of entry. A loss of communications wasn’t good so to follow procedure I reset my transponder on ADSB to squawk 7700 and elected to stay high in order to circle the airport and attempt to be seen by the traffic controllers in the tower.
Several loops later, still no Light Gun (used to communicate with pilots to instruct to land) and now reaching minimum fuel it became necessary to move forward with a landing. Keeping a watchful eye on the commercial aircraft landing and taking off, I elected to move to the north off airport and conducted several circles to descend before making an approach to land on the edge of the ramp clear of all traffic.
After a smooth, perfect landing I scooped up my glider and made my way over the terminal building and proceeded to complete the process completing immigration and customs. The lack of radio did require completing some additional paperwork with the civil air authority but after several hours cleared and began the process to secure a commercial flight back to Miami. Successfully obtaining a flight back to Miami on American, my Paramotor went through xray and was loaded on my flight and an hour later we were in Miami.
And just like that the Adventure had been a huge success creating several firsts for Foot-Launch Paramotor pilots. The First Legal Departure and Return to the USA by a Foot-Launch Paramotor pilot, and the first ever paramotor flight into the Bahamas from the USA into Nassau, 195 miles across open ocean unsupported on a foot-Launch Paramotor from the USA.
The following day we drove back to Lake Wales and completed an Aviator Paramotors Interview before continuing on to return the DaVinci Disco 22m to London Ivey. The 6 day return trip included stops to New Orleans, Lonestar Paramotors, Anthony Vella, Tucker Gott and Salton Sea for some flying.
Since returning I have completed my FAA Certification as a Light-Sport Repairman in Missouri, had surgery to remove a Kidney Stone, completed our first class of students at Dreamlifter Paramotors and completed a Podcast with Helix Propellers. Over the coming months I’ll be teaching pilots to Fly Paramotors and working on magazine articles to be published on USPPA and other distributions.
So what’s next — well to be honest I’m not sure – maybe fly 50 Countries.
In the meantime, to get more of this story, spend time looking back over all the posts and videos on social media. Facebook has the most complete list of releases and there are plenty of videos and a playlist on Youtube @ 50xChallenge
A big thank you to my Girlfriend for doing the trip with me and all my sponsors and supporters who helped make the adventure a reality. Finally a big thank you to all of you who have followed along and left awesome comments. THANK YOU.
