German doctor Hannes Lindemann left Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in a folding kayak barely 5.2 meters long on October 20, 1956. He reached the Caribbean island of St. Martin seventy-two days later, after storms, hunger, thirst, sleep deprivation and two capsize incidents. The boat was a Klepper folding kayak made from a collapsible frame and fabric, and Lindemann had added a simple outrigger for stability and carried two small sails that could provide extra propulsion when the wind was favorable. The Deutsches Museum records the crossing as one of the smallest boats ever used to cross the Atlantic.
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