Hours before dawn on Friday morning, Alberto “Tito Kayak” De Jesus climbed out of his kayak and onto the shores of Virgin Gorda near Spring Bay.

Alberto “Tito Kayak” De Jesus paddles his kayak in Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour on Saturday. The activist plans to continue on to Washington DC, in part to protest the imprisonment of a Puerto Rico nationalist. Photo: TODD VANSICKLEHe had been paddling for almost two days straight from Anguilla, and he was exhausted, hungry and dehydrated.

“I was very weak. It was a long travel,” the Puerto Rican kayaker said in broken English in a Saturday interview. “I have had to fight with the elements, but I was lucky the waves were only two to four feet.”

Mr. De Jesus’ solo journey started in Venezuela, and it is not over yet.

The activist hopes to kayak to Washington DC to raise awareness not only about environmental issues but also about Oscar López Rivera, a Puerto Rican nationalist who has spent 31 years in United States prison.

In 1981, Mr. Rivera was sentenced to 70 years for “seditious conspiracy” and other charges for his alleged role in a Puerto Rican nationalist group that the US blames for more than 100 bombings that killed six people and maimed others.

But to Mr. De Jesus and other Rivera supporters, the 69-year-old Vietnam veteran is a hero akin to Nelson Mandela. They argue that Mr. Rivera is a political prisoner who has never been convicted of a violent crime.

Mr. Rivera’s supporters say he is among the longest held political prisoners in history.

See the Sept. 13, 2012 edition for full coverage.