«Breaking News» Frenchman, 71, sets sail in 10ft-long BARREL in bid to reach Caribbean using only ocean currents

A 71-year-old Frenchman has set sail across the Atlantic in a barrel-shaped orange capsule, hoping to reach the Caribbean within three months using ocean currents alone.

Jean-Jacques Savin set off from El Hierro in Spain's Canary Islands for a three-month voyage he hopes will take him to Barbados, Martinique or Guadaloupe.  

The former paratrooper had worked on his vessel for months in the small shipyard of Ares on France's southwest coast.

Measuring 10ft long and nearly 7ft across, it is made from resin-coated plywood, heavily reinforced to resist waves and potential attacks by orca whales.

Frenchman Jean-Jacques Savin (pictured), 71, has set sail across the Atlantic in a barrel-shaped orange capsule, hoping to reach the Caribbean within three months using ocean currents alone

Measuring 10ft long and nearly 7ft across, it is made from resin-coated plywood, heavily reinforced to resist waves and potential attacks by orca whales

Inside the capsule, which weighs 990 lbs when empty, is a six-square-metre living space which includes a kitchen, sleeping bunk and storage. A porthole in the floor allows Savin to look at passing fish.

'The weather is great - I've got a swell of one metre and I'm moving at two or three kilometres an hour,' he told AFP by telephone after setting off from El Hierro in Spain's Canary Islands.

'For the time being my capsule is behaving very, very well and I've got favourable winds forecast until Sunday.'

A former military parachutist who served in Africa, Savin has also worked as a pilot and a national park ranger.

He has stowed away a block of foie gras and a bottle of Sauternes white wine for New Year's Eve, along with a bottle of red Saint-Emilion for his 72nd birthday on January 14.

Savin hopes currents will carry him naturally to the Caribbean without the need for a sail or oars - 'maybe Barbados, although I'd really like it to be a French island like Martinique or Guadaloupe,' he quipped.

Jean-Jacques Savin set off from El Hierro in Spain's Canary Islands for a three-month voyage he hopes will take him to Barbados, Martinique or Guadaloupe

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

Along the way, Savin will be dropping markers for the JCOMMOPS international marine observatory to help its oceanographers study the currents.

And he himself will be the subject of a study on the effects of solitude in close confinement.

Even the wine onboard will be studied: He is carrying a Bordeaux to be compared afterwards with one kept on land to determine the effects of months spent tossed on the waves.

Savin has a budget of 60,000 euros (£54,000) for his expedition, covered in part by barrelmakers and a crowdfunding campaign. 

Link hienalouca.com

https://hienalouca.com/2018/12/27/frenchman-71-sets-sail-in-10ft-long-barrel-in-bid-to-reach-caribbean-using-only-ocean-currents/
Main photo article A 71-year-old Frenchman has set sail across the Atlantic in a barrel-shaped orange capsule, hoping to reach the Caribbean within three months using ocean currents alone.
Jean-Jacques Savin set off from El Hierro in Spain‘s Canary Islands for a three-month voyage he hopes will take him to...

It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.

Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.

Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca





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