A 72-year-old French man has crossed the Atlantic in a giant orange barrel

by _of • 7 years ago

69 31 7 years ago

popularmechanics.com

p1necone2• 7 years ago

"giant barrel" is clickbait. It's a (unpowered) boat that externally looks a bit like a barrel.

"measures about 10 feet long and seven feet wide and includes a small kitchen and bed, and space for storage."

hnhg• 7 years ago

I wish there were more details, like how he lived, his water supply, toilet arrangements, etc.

p1necone2• 7 years ago

Existing only on caught fish sounds like a recipe for scurvy too. I wonder if he had anything else?

xfitm32• 7 years ago

Search for his name - other outlets have more details.

flopp• 7 years ago

The project's website has some details: http://www.atlantique-tonneau.com

jpatokal• 7 years ago

Look at the photo, it's hard to describe that as anything but a barrel: https://dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com/cnn/q_auto,w_634,c_fill,g_auto...

In particular, it lacks any conventional boat elements like a method of propulsion or steering.

He is clearly milking the label for all it's worth though, the GPS tracker ID was "diogene" (French for Diogenes of Greek philosopher living in a barrel fame) and his sponsors included several manufacturers of wine barrels (https://www.boutes.com/), who apparently also helped build the thing.

d--b• 7 years ago

The plan shows this had a keel though.

inflatableDodo• 7 years ago

the GPS tracker ID was "diogene" (French for Diogenes of Greek philosopher living in a barrel fame)

In that case I am slightly disappointed that the voyage was undertaken without the barrel also containing a pack of feral dogs. The resulting footage would be worth it if nothing else.

eps• 7 years ago

It also has a keel with the ballast.

http://www.atlantique-tonneau.com/pdf/plan.pdf

keyle• 7 years ago

Sure but the French translation and the naming of the ship itself translates to barrel.

gka• 7 years ago

but it is a wooden barrel, just painted/coated on the outside. you can see it from the inside in this video https://youtu.be/TiohMRMdknU?t=45

2xlbuds• 7 years ago

Reminds me of "Father's Day"

https://medium.com/@info_44554/5ft-4-inch-fathers-day-is-the...

xfitm32• 7 years ago

As almost always is the case the CNN article is light on details. Popular mechanics is slightly better - with some eye candy. I have to say a 72 year old man crossing the atlantic in a unpowered vessel is amazing. Good for him.

checker659• 7 years ago

As almost always is the case the CNN article

Maybe CNN knows that its audience don't want technical details??

ddingus2• 7 years ago

More like conditioned to avoid technical details.

(Not happy with CNN these days)

nerdwaller• 7 years ago

Ironically at the bottom of the Popular Mechanics article is “Source: CNN”

rockinghigh• 7 years ago

His web site has more pictures: http://www.atlantique-tonneau.com

coleifer• 7 years ago

Shoot that's nothing, I flew across the Atlantic in a giant barrel with wings plenty of times.

tetrisgm• 7 years ago

What does this mean for the future of barrel-powered travel?

mintplant• 7 years ago

https://xkcd.com/1

joshfraser• 7 years ago

https://xkcd.com/11/

lugg• 7 years ago

I wonder if this answers any questions about how early man managed to populate the Americas / Pacific.

112358132134553• 7 years ago

including a rough sea that forced him to leave the barrel and navigate difficult waters from outside his cozy confines

Where was he? sitting at the top of the barrel? or on another accompanying boat?

Gys• 7 years ago

'navigate' ? How ?

112358132134553• 7 years ago

I'm quoting the article, I also wonder what they mean by that

A 72-year-old French man has crossed the Atlantic in a giant orange barrel

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