The 72-year-old Frenchman Jean-Jacques Savin has reached his goal: he has crossed the Atlantic in a floating barrel. This was reported by AFP and other media. Savin's role model is Alain Bombard, a doctor who crossed the Atlantic alone in a rubber dinghy in 1952, using sails and oars. He had no provisions with him and wanted to feed exclusively on fish and plankton to prove that shipwrecked people could survive in this way. Jean-Jacques Savin had set off from El Hierro in the Canary Islands on 26 December to drift to the Caribbean.
Six square metres of living space
Since then, it has floated on the ocean for over 120 days in its bright orange barrel-like floating vessel. It was manufactured for the voyage at the Arès shipyard in France. It is around three metres long, has a diameter of 2.10 metres at its widest point and a "living space" of around six square metres.
The equipment
Among other things, Savin had the following equipment on board: an Iridium Go satellite phone, a tablet with GPS function, a VHF handheld radio, weather software, a tracker, an AIS transmitter and receiver, a life raft for four people and a bilge pump.
Over 20,000 followers
Savin had to ration his supplies en route and subsisted on fish. There was a risk of collision with tankers on several occasions. Savin calls his barrel his "companion" and wants to display it at celebrations and events after his arrival. More than 20,000 people have followed the Frenchman's drift across the Atlantic.
About the adventurer
Jean-Jacques Savin has been sailing for a long time, including crossing the Atlantic four times. He is a former paratrooper and pilot and has a penchant for extreme adventures: by his own account, he climbed Mont Blanc in 2015, swam across the Bay of Arcachon and completed a triathlon in 2017.
