Lady luck finally appears to be on Aleksander Doba’s side as the Polish adventurer nears Florida in his attempt to become the first man to kayak solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

With the winds and currents in his favour, Mr Doba’s latest update puts him less than 700 miles to his final destination in Florida, where he will complete his record bid after setting off from Portugal in October last year.

Mr Doba arrived in Bermuda on February 24 to repair a broken rudder, which came unhinged during five severe storms in January. The storms pushed him north, away from his originally intended course and toward Bermuda.

In order to restart his record bid, Mr Doba had to return to the point where he was blown off-course, around 300 miles south of Bermuda, hopefully nullifying the assistance he received that might invalidate his attempt.

After a month on the Island, the Spirit of Bermuda and several sponsors then stepped in to carry the 67 year-old retired engineer’s kayak, named ‘OLO’.

After three days at sea, the Spirit of Bermuda, carrying the kayak, reached the point where Mr Doba had to abandon his crossing due to broken rudder. But shortly after he and ‘OLO’ had been safely lowered into the ocean, a large swell broadsided the three-masted sloop, causing it to roll on top of the kayak.

The 1,300lb kayak became trapped under the ship’s rub rail, inflicting severe damage and adding more than a little bit of insult to a series of injuries that threatened to scupper Mr Doba’s record bid.

“As soon as he [Mr Doba] hit the rolling water, a swell came causing Spirit to take a roll,” said Spirit of Bermuda CEO, Denise Riviere, at the time.

“The wing, the big structure on top of the kayak, got caught and pretty much crushed it. There was significant damage to the top of the kayak, so Olek [Mr Doba] cut the structure away.”

However, the 67-year-old retired engineer chose to forge ahead with his oceanic adventure.

Updates on Mr Doba’s progress are available here.