71-year-old Frenchmen all set to sail the Atlantic..in a barrel

The orange capsule is propelled by ocean currents


News Desk December 27, 2018
PHOTO: AFP

Jean Jacques Savin did not set the sail but is all ready to roll through the Atlantic in an orange 'barrel', propelled by the ocean currents.

The 71-year-old Frenchman left El Heirro in Spain's Canary Islands, with a plan to reach the Caribbean in less than three months, BBC reported on Thursday.

The barrel is an orange capsule which includes a sleeping bunker, a kitchen and storage.

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Savin, who is a former military paratrooper and pilot, revealed that he will be dropping markers along the way that help experts study the currents of the Atlantic Ocean.

He believes ocean currents alone will carry his resin-coated plywood vessel about 4,500km to the Caribbean.

The barrel is 3m long and 2.10m wide with six square metres of living space. There is a porthole in the floor through which Mr Savin can watch passing fish.

The capsule is wave resistant and can withstand attacks by Orca whales. It is powered by a solar panel and enables signal reception by GPS technology.

The capsule was built at a cost of €60,000, raised largely through crowdfunding.

Speaking about where his travels might take him, he said: "Maybe Barbados, although I would really like it to be a French island like Martinique or Guadeloupe."

"That would be easier for the paperwork and for bringing the barrel back."

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He stocked a block of foie gras and a bottle of Sauternes white wine for New Year's Eve and the adventure is also an early birthday gift to himself by himself.

Savin turns 72 on January 14 and is saving a bottle of red wine for the occasion.

This article originally appeared in BBC.

 

COMMENTS (1)

zard | 5 years ago | Reply Try spending 3 months living in a barrel on land - b4 trying it in the Ocean. Ocean movement alone can be taxing on healthy young person - and bobbing around in bubble sounds like a disaster to me. This isn't going to end well.
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