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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFrench Man Made It, Crossed Atlantic In A Giant Barrel, Arrived St. Eustatius
Last edited Wed May 8, 2019, 07:38 PM - Edit history (2)
CNN, 11 hrs. ago.
A French man who has spent more than four months floating across the Atlantic Ocean in a giant orange barrel has arrived at his Caribbean destination.
Jean-Jacques Savin set off from the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa, on December 26, 2018 -- heading west in a barrel-shaped capsule he'd built himself.
Savin, 71 at the time of his departure, spent the first four months of 2019 inside his barrel, traveling at about two miles an hour with no engine, and relying entirely on the ocean current to guide his journey.
He surprised locals as he came ashore on the tiny Dutch Caribbean island of St. Eustatius shortly after midnight last week, bringing a mammoth, 2,930-mile journey to a close.
"Everything has an end ... finally, here I am at the end of this adventure," he wrote on Facebook on Friday, after stepping foot on land for the first time this year...More,
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/french-man-floats-across-atlantic-after-four-months-in-a-giant-barrel/ar-AAB1Tr9
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ADD: From CNN, May 7, 19
"The septuagenarian traveled alone in his handmade vessel, which measures about 10 feet long and seven feet wide and includes a small kitchen and bed, and space for storage. He fed himself on fish caught from the ocean.
Savin stowed away a bottle of Sauternes white wine and a block of foie gras for New Year's Eve. He also had a bottle of Saint-Émilion red to celebrate his birthday in January. But most of Savin's entertainment came from the portholes in his vessel, through which he watched passing fish.
The trip was not Savin's first major adventure. He previously worked as a military paratrooper and a private pilot, and climbed Mont Blanc in 2015, according to his project's website. A tracker on board allowed people to follow his progress online and Savin dropped markers on his way to help international marine observatory organization JCOMMOPS study ocean currents.
Savin had hoped to reach the Caribbean by late March, but missed the mark by just over a month. He still intends to make it to French-owned Guadeloupe by boat, before heading home with his barrel.
https://start.att.net/news/read/category/news/article/cnn-french_man_arrives_in_caribbean_after_crossing_atl-cnn2
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)And people have crossed the ocean in a rowboat.
comradebillyboy
(10,144 posts)Think Tun:
Definition of tun
1 : a large cask especially for wine
2 : any of various units of liquid capacity especially : one equal to 252 gallons
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)Chin music
(23,002 posts)Still unbelievable. Wow.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)To a Frenchman, that would be survival equipment.
N.B. I have significant French ancestry.
Chin music
(23,002 posts)emmaverybo
(8,144 posts)How was it made? How was it sea worthy? What about a bathroom? What about enough air? Did he feel sorta rolled about, adrift? How did he sustain himself emotionally? So many questions.
HipChick
(25,485 posts)I'd just be looking forward to sitting in my front yard, and making sure no kids step on my lawn..
Brother Buzz
(36,423 posts)Seaworthy and modestly ballasted for stability. He drifted with the prevailing wind and currents. I suspect he used 'old school' technology for a head, a bucket. Why did he use a bucket? Most sailors drown with their flies open.
ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)I'm glad to see he made it.
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)Stay in a giant wine barrel in a vineyard in PORTUGAL. Way to sleep off a hangover.
The Heidelberg Tun, (Germany) the world's largest wine barrel. https://luxeadventuretraveler.com/heidelberg-castle/
Giant wine barrels, California.
Jean Jacques Savin, sportsman and adventurer.
MORE, https://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/outdoors/a27396168/frenchman-crosses-atlantic-ocean-in-barrel/
'This 72-Year-Old Frenchman Just Crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a Giant Orange Barrel,' Popular Mechanics, May 7, 19.
"His barrel was made of resin-coated plywood, built by two French barrel makers. The measurements worked out to 10 feet long and 6.8 feet across. Savin hoped his new home would prove sturdy enough to handle orca attacks.
The Frenchman got an assist from JCOMMOPS, an international marine observatory, which provided him with markers to drop off at various parts of the sea to help study ocean currents.
Though his voyage lasted 128 days, it was mostly unremarkable. He posted updates on Facebook and told a French news site near the end of his journey that he had had just eight difficult nights in total, including a rough sea that forced him to leave the barrel and navigate difficult waters from outside his cozy confines. He also rarely encountered other humans."
greatauntoftriplets
(175,733 posts)Overproof, of course.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,311 posts)He could quite easily have floated past and had to carry on to the mainland. Or would it count if a ship picked him up once he'd passed islands?
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)2. Why even do it? What is he trying to accomplish?
3. Now do the Pacific Ocean, big guy!
drbtg1
(1,054 posts)I think of people trying to improve themselves, their families, their society....and then there's this guy. Just a waste.
hunter
(38,311 posts)Most of us have jobs that make the world a poorer place, and it's like we don't have any choice in the matter. Work or starve. Keep burning those fossil fuels, keep digging in those mines, keep cutting down those forests, keep selling that factory farm meat...
What we now call economic "productivity" is a direct measure of the damage we are doing to our planet's natural environment and our own human spirit.
Reading this story makes me happy.
I think Jean-Jacques Savin has made the world a slightly better place.
drbtg1
(1,054 posts)I look back on the last few months (the same time frame as the barrel story) and I think of when I recently got my mom to the hospital in time to have emergency surgery that saved her life. This weekend, she'll be marrying her long time boyfriend. None of that would have happened if I was stuck in a barrel in the middle of the ocean.
Thinking of THAT story makes me happy.
But, y'know, whatever floats your boat....or barrel!
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)more imagination and adventures in nature like this, away from the laptop and office.
Blues Heron
(5,931 posts)not a waste at all.
"The trip was not Savin's first major adventure. He previously worked as a military paratrooper and a private pilot, and climbed Mont Blanc in 2015, according to his project's website.
A tracker on board allowed people to follow his progress online and Savin dropped markers on his way to help international marine observatory organization JCOMMOPS study ocean currents."
drbtg1
(1,054 posts)Yeah, I read that part of the story.
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)Kurt V.
(5,624 posts)appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)malaise
(268,968 posts)appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)Love the West Indies, Dutch-French St. Maarten and St. Barts, and more.
malaise
(268,968 posts)Love my part of the planet too
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)Jamaica, these rides around MoBay look so cool. I don't remember or I would have done 'ocean riding.' As long as the horses and peeps are ok.
malaise
(268,968 posts)eons ago.
We're paradise until the hurricanes or earthquakes show up
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)Horse riding these days is wishful thinking, I might fall off and break stuff which would be a real drag!
Saw St. Pierre, Martinique- that Mount Pelee earthquake was horrible in 1907. The 1692 Port Royal quake was massive.
EX500rider
(10,842 posts)hunter
(38,311 posts)Desalinization technology has come a long way. You can buy off-the-shelf units powered by the sun, bottled gas, or hand and foot pumps.
The search term Watermakers for Small Sailboats will show you what's available.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I know some people think this is really cool, and it is certainly amazing that he made it, but I just think "why"? Why subject yourself to that? It sounds hellish.
VOX
(22,976 posts)Not only is there the extreme, immediate confinement of the barrel, but the surrounding ocean itself becomes a kind of prison from which there is no easy escape. Just reading about it generates discomfort.
Hellish indeed.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Along with no decent food, drink or comfortable surroundings. It would drive me mad.
VOX
(22,976 posts)I, too, would utterly flip out in this setup. I wouldnt last 5 minutes.
ret5hd
(20,491 posts)Yeah, hellish.
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)and a climber of Mont Blanc in 2015, so he's had a lot of experience and is familiar with small places, navigation too. (See added CNN Info. in OP above).
No way pour moi, I couldn't do it, not for a day. But it's inspiring and impressive how a fit 71 year old is still interested in adventure and willing to push himself. And he was able to go outside the capsule if needed during the 4 month journey, must have had an inflatable raft/float device.
marylandblue
(12,344 posts)So what so special about that French guy?