CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Spanish adventurer, Alvaro De Marichalar, is hoping to circumnavigate the globe in the fine tradition of Ferdinand.
But this time, there's no ship involved such as the one Magellan used 500 years ago.
Many people became aware of Marichalar when he showed up to speak to a group of journalists in Rockport. He explained that he was circumnavigating the globe on his 11-foot jet ski, but he ended up shipwrecked when the jet ski quit working after he got there.
"What I am doing is circumnavigating the world on a little vessel half of the size of this table," Marichalar said.
Marichalar is going on his adventure as a way to honor Ferdinand Magellan who circumnavigated the globe 500 years ago. He said he's doing it also because it's been a dream of his.
"I think that the explorers of the 16th century had a lot of principles, values and guts. Because they would risk it all, they were not afraid," Marichalar said.
3NEWS also asked Marichalar what it was like to be out on a jet ski instead of possibly sailing on a boat.
"It's like driving on a dolphin, riding a dolphin in the middle of the ocean," Marichalar said. "It's really really nice. Very scary, you get very weak, you get very cold. But, a truthful way of experiencing navigation."
The trip around the globe started in Seville, Spain back in August of 2019. It was eventually slowed for two years once he got to Miami due to the pandemic beginning. He started up his expedition again in February and it was smooth sailing until he got to Rockport.
As for rumors of royalty in Rockport... The short answer: maybe?
Locals such as Vice President Sandy Jumper with the Fulton Rockport Chamber of Commerce welcomed him and even got him to admit he's got some royalty in his blood.
"Rumor has it that he's actually with the royal family. That wasn't said last night, but we did hear those rumors, so it's a possibility," Jumper said.
3NEWS checked on his royal lineage and it appears he does have ties to some of those families who ruled Spain long ago. He's also a descendant of a Spanish explorer who established a colony in Pensacola, Florida in 1559. We're told that he's back on his journey after having to buy a new jet ski.
He expects to complete the voyage by July of next year.
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