Desperate times call for desperate measures.

An Argentinian sailor who was unable to fly home from Portugal due to the COVID-19 pandemic decided to use the path less taken to do so.

According to a report by AFP, Juan Manuel Ballestero took 85 days to reach home using a small boat called a 'Skua'.


"I did it! I did it! I did it!," he said at the dockside when he reached his hometown of Mar del Plata.

After testing negative for COVID-19 on arrival, Ballestero was cleared to set foot on dry land.

A journey to see his parents

His journey may be tedious but he did it just to see his mother, 82-year-old Nilda and father Carlos, 90.


"I've achieved what I've been fighting for these last three months."

"It came down to this: to be with the family. That's why I came,” he told AFP.

He had hoped to arrive in Argentina by 15 May, to celebrate his father’s 90th birthday but did not meet the deadline.

He, however, managed to celebrate Father's Day with his family so it's still a happy ending in the end.