Jean-Jacques Savin: Frenchman sets off to cross Atlantic in a barrel

[TomSea]

Jean-Jacques Savin: Frenchman sets off to cross Atlantic in a barrel
    27 December 2018


Jean-Jacques Savin spent months constructing the barrel in a shipyard in south-west France

A Frenchman has set off to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a barrel-shaped orange capsule, using ocean currents alone to propel him.

Jean-Jacques Savin, 71, left El Hierro in Spain's Canary Islands and hopes to reach the Caribbean in as little as three months.

His reinforced capsule contains a sleeping bunk, kitchen and storage.

See article including a picture of the inside of the cabin at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46690647

This is sort of like something one might see in 'Popular Mechanics'.

[Fishrrman]

From the source article:
"He believes ocean currents alone will carry his resin-coated plywood vessel about 4,500km (2,800 miles) to the Caribbean."

Don't the "prevailing currents" go in the opposite direction (Gulf Stream, etc.)?

How stable is that gonna be in a bad storm?

[Wingnut]

The french have a very bad sense of direction.

[Smokin Joe]

From the source article:
"He believes ocean currents alone will carry his resin-coated plywood vessel about 4,500km (2,800 miles) to the Caribbean."

Don't the "prevailing currents" go in the opposite direction (Gulf Stream, etc.)?

How stable is that gonna be in a bad storm?

He's heading for the Caribbean, so he'd be relying on the southern currents which go east to west.

That thing would be a real puke pot in the North Atlantic this time of year.