A cloud in the sky goes, a barrel floats on the sea and in a barrel… No, not Prince Gvidon, but rather “Diogenes”: 71-year-old Frenchman Jean-Jacques Savin (Jean-Jacques Savin). A former military aerial paratrooper and pilot 4 times crossed the Atlantic under sail and decided to celebrate the fifth “anniversary” time, unusual: go on a “journey, during which the person is not the captain of the ship, and the passenger of the ocean.” For this he built of plywood coated with epoxy resin, orange capsule that will drive across the Atlantic ocean currents.
Savina journey of 4500 km opened on 26 December near the coast of El Hierro (Canary Islands). In the Caribbean , he expects to arrive in 3 months.
“Maybe Barbados, although I would love to be on a French island, Martinique or Guadeloupe. So it will be less red tape, especially when you need to return the barrel back,” says the Frenchman on the final point of their journey.
His “ship”, built at a small shipyard in the coastal gorodochke Ares to the West of Bordeaux, has 3 meters in length and 2.10 m in width. 6 square metres of living space (less pickup) it has a kitchen, a bed to sleep with straps that will not let the waves throw the traveler across the cabin, and storage space. In the bottom of the barrel made the window, so that during the journey the man will be able to observe the fish. Two small portholes located “on the sides”.
The capsule is designed to withstand the impact of waves and a possible attack of killer whales. For the stability of the bottom filled with concrete. To charge communication devices and GPS positioning, the Frenchman will be using solar panels.
Preparation of the trip cost € 68 thousand Partially funded two French cooperage company, of the funds (about € 10 thousand at current exchange rates) collected through crowdfunding. Most of the money (18 and 16 thousand) went into the construction of barrels and the purchase of equipment.
On this adventure Savina was inspired by the book “Voluntary exile” (“Naufragé volontaire”) the French doctor Alain bombard (Alain Bombard), which in 1952 alone crossed the Atlantic on an inflatable boat, having almost no food or water. The man survived, catching fish and collecting plankton.
Unlike bombard, Savin took with them sufficient food.
Moreover, the boat has a supply of foie Gras and an amphora of white wine Sauternes, where the Frenchman will delight yourself in the New year, as well as amphora red Saint-Emilion birthday on January 14. So at least for the holidays Savin intend to enjoy life.
Finally, the third amphora, from Bordeaux, came on Board for the sake of “experiment”. At the finish of the taste of the wine from it will be compared with similar, which has not been in swimming.
Wine Savine experiments will not be limited. During the trip he will drop in the water “labels” that will help oceanographers from the international Maritime Observatory JCOMMOPS to study Atlantic current. In the “barrel” is also equipped with equipment that will collect additional data to scientists.
The Frenchman will also have to carefully observe oneself, by studying the effects of a long stay alone in a confined space. After completing the journey, he will be the physicians that will make the conclusion about the state of not only the body but also the psyche.
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