French Man Made It, Crossed Atlantic In A Giant Barrel, Arrived St. Eustatius
Last edited Wed May 8, 2019, 07:38 PM - Edit history (2)
CNN, 11 hrs. ago.
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.
"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...More,
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/french-man-floats-across-atlantic-after-four-months-in-a-giant-barrel/ar-AAB1Tr9
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ADD: From CNN, May 7, 19
"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.
https://start.att.net/news/read/category/news/article/cnn-french_man_arrives_in_caribbean_after_crossing_atl-cnn2
= new reply since forum marked as read
Stay in a giant wine barrel in a vineyard in PORTUGAL. Way to sleep off a hangover.
The Heidelberg Tun, (Germany) the world's largest wine barrel. https://luxeadventuretraveler.com/heidelberg-castle/
Giant wine barrels, California.
Jean Jacques Savin, sportsman and adventurer.
MORE, https://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/outdoors/a27396168/frenchman-crosses-atlantic-ocean-in-barrel/
'This 72-Year-Old Frenchman Just Crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a Giant Orange Barrel,' Popular Mechanics, May 7, 19.
"His barrel was made of resin-coated plywood, built by two French barrel makers. The measurements worked out to 10 feet long and 6.8 feet across. Savin hoped his new home would prove sturdy enough to handle orca attacks.
The Frenchman got an assist from JCOMMOPS, an international marine observatory, which provided him with markers to drop off at various parts of the sea to help study ocean currents.
Though his voyage lasted 128 days, it was mostly unremarkable. He posted updates on Facebook and told a French news site near the end of his journey that he had had just eight difficult nights in total, including a rough sea that forced him to leave the barrel and navigate difficult waters from outside his cozy confines. He also rarely encountered other humans."
I look back on the last few months (the same time frame as the barrel story) and I think of when I recently got my mom to the hospital in time to have emergency surgery that saved her life. This weekend, she'll be marrying her long time boyfriend. None of that would have happened if I was stuck in a barrel in the middle of the ocean.
Thinking of THAT story makes me happy.
But, y'know, whatever floats your boat....or barrel! 
Love the West Indies, Dutch-French St. Maarten and St. Barts, and more.
Love my part of the planet too 
Jamaica, these rides around MoBay look so cool. I don't remember or I would have done 'ocean riding.' As long as the horses and peeps are ok.
eons ago.
We're paradise until the hurricanes or earthquakes show up 
Horse riding these days is wishful thinking, I might fall off and break stuff which would be a real drag!
Saw St. Pierre, Martinique- that Mount Pelee earthquake was horrible in 1907. The 1692 Port Royal quake was massive.
Not only is there the extreme, immediate confinement of the “barrel,” but the surrounding ocean itself becomes a kind of prison from which there is no easy escape. Just reading about it generates discomfort.
“Hellish” indeed. 
