Paris – A 71-year-old Frenchman has departed on a journey across the Atlantic in a specially designed barrel capsule, which will use ocean currents alone to propel him across the sea.
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Jean-Jacques Savin set off from El Hierro in Spain’s Canary Islands on Wednesday and is aiming to complete his 4,500-kilometre (2,800-mile) journey to the Caribbean in about three months.
Savin will drop markers from his three-meter (10-foot) long, 2.1-metre (seven-foot) wide resin-coated plywood capsule along the trip to assist oceanographers in their study of currents in the Atlantic Ocean.
The barrel is equipped with a kitchen area, and a mattress with straps to keep him from being thrown about by rough seas.
Some people have odd hobbies.
“The barrel is equipped with a kitchen area and a mattress.” About an hour into his voyage, after drinking a few cups of Bordeaux, it will dawn on him that he forget a certain other necessary peice of equipment. Bon voyage, Peppe Le Pew.
thought it was only the Americans who were nuts….
This barrel does not offer much stability… Let’s see how he feels when it’s going up and down and side-ways non-stop in rough seas. I would like to read his diary later…
A few years ago, there was an American female who rowed across the Alantic, from Africa, to South America, in a large rowboat.