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Basketball Fan Franchise Player
Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Posts: 24828
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 3:33 pm Post subject: French man arrives in Caribbean after crossing Atlantic in giant barrel |
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https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/barrel-atlantic-crossing-arrival-scli-intl/index.html
Quote: | French man arrives in Caribbean after crossing Atlantic in giant barrel
Savin works on the construction of his barrel in November 2018.
(CNN) — 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.
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Frenchman to float across the Atlantic -- in a barrel
"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.
A diving center on St. Eustatius welcomed Savin, adding on Facebook that he was also given a room at a hotel on the island, which has a population of just over 3,000.
"Some joked and ask if they were arresting him on arrival for being so crazy," St. Eustatius resident Dorette Courtar, who watched his barrel pulled ashore by a crane, told CNN. "Others, like myself, were fascinated by this journey and technology."
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. |
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Huey Lewis & The News Star Player
Joined: 18 Dec 2015 Posts: 5234 Location: So what's the uh...topic of discussion?
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DaMuleRules Retired Number
Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 52740 Location: Making a safety stop at 15 feet.
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 4:48 pm Post subject: |
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Wait . . . how do you guys cross the Atlantic? _________________ You thought God was an architect, now you know
He’s something like a pipe bomb ready to blow
And everything you built that’s all for show
goes up in flames
In 24 frames
Jason Isbell
Man, do those lyrics resonate right now |
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ringfinger Retired Number
Joined: 08 Oct 2013 Posts: 29418
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 5:41 pm Post subject: |
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Too much claustrophobia for me. |
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governator Retired Number
Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 25298
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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Barrel? Thing got kitchen, bed and wine (it’s impressive) |
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vanexelent Retired Number
Joined: 17 May 2005 Posts: 30081
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 7:10 pm Post subject: |
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If floating through life is now newsworthy, I guess I'll have to adjust to all the attention. |
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Aussiesuede Franchise Player
Joined: 27 Jul 2005 Posts: 10964
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2019 1:41 am Post subject: |
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DaMuleRules wrote: | Wait . . . how do you guys cross the Atlantic? |
Kite Surf Of Course. Pfft _________________ I'm On point, On task, On message, and Off drugs. A Streetwise Smart Bomb, Out of rehab and In denial. Over the Top, On the edge, Under the Radar, and In Control. Behind the 8 ball, Ahead of the Curve and I've got a Love Child who sends me Hate mail. |
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