( CNN ) -- Olek Doba 's slow , lonely kayak journey across the Atlantic Ocean is nearing an end this week . Doba , 67 , is n't making the record-setting transatlantic trip for money , but because it 's on his bucket list , a friend waiting for his arrival in North America said . He has no corporate sponsors . The only logo on his yellow 21-foot boat is the name of his hometown : Police , Poland . Doba is paying his own way with his retirement money saved during his career as an engineer , according to Piotr Chmielinski , a friend who helps with his logistics . Doba began paddling the kayak , named Olo , in Lisbon , Portugal , last October with a goal of reaching the Florida coast more than 5,000 miles away . At a pace of about 30 miles a day , he hoped to get there in February . A broken rudder and unusual weather patterns slowed Doba , but he was n't stopped . He refused a rescue offer from a tanker when his communications gear failed in the middle of the Atlantic in December . He was forced to make a monthlong pit stop in Bermuda when the rudder broke in February , but he was back in the water in late March , Chmielinski said . Another mishap broke his navigation light and radar antennae , which he repaired using a boat paddle and soda bottle . By Tuesday , Doba was less than 200 miles from his destination of New Smyrna Beach , Florida . He still has to paddle through the Gulf Stream currents around the Bahamas . The mayor and a high school band will be on the beach to greet Doba when he makes landfall , which is expected Friday morning unless another storm kicks up , Chmielinski said . Doba 's voyage is the longest ever in a kayak and the first to go from Europe to North America , he said . This would be his second complete transatlantic kayak trip in four years . He paddled the Olo from Africa to Brazil over 99 days in 2010 . Doba expects to have another 30 years left in his life to explore the world , because members of his family are known to live to 100 , Chmielinski said .
Olek Doba has no corporate sponsors , but is using retirement funds . The 5,000 mile kayak journey launched in Lisbon , Portugal , last October . Doba hopes to reach New Smyrna Beach , Florida , on Friday . It 's his second complete transatlantic kayak trip in four years .