Man hoping to cross Atlantic with cluster of balloons lands in Newfoundland

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/hundreds-of-helium-filled-balloons-being-used-in-attempt-to-cross-atlantic-ocean/2013/09/13/d108fc24-1c31-11e3-80ac-96205cacb45a_story.html

by obeone • 13 years ago

23 15 13 years ago

washingtonpost.com

3327• 13 years ago

last time a priest tried this from brazil. Never to be seen or found again. Had all the proper tracking gear too and beacons. When you land in the middle of the Atlantic most of that is no good unless you have a raft.

gtCameron• 13 years ago

FTA - "For his trans-Atlantic crossing, the basket in which he was riding was actually a lifeboat that could have been used if he ditches in the ocean."

cpncrunch• 13 years ago

When I read the title I thought "not another lunatic", but it does sound like he planned it quite well. He is an IT manager after all.

I thought maybe he should have worn an immersion suit, but perhaps that is unnecessary with the lifeboat.

josefresco• 13 years ago

I'm not sure about the guy from Brazil, but at least this guy had/has done some crossings like this before.

baddox2• 13 years ago

Why didn't he have a raft?

coldtea• 13 years ago

Which reminds me of this Monty Python short:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvk2wNWmB20

moomin• 13 years ago

Whilst I generally applaud people wanting to do crazy stuff just for the hell of it, there's a downside to this particular project

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/mar/18/helium-party-...

aaron695• 13 years ago

Crossing the Atlantic compared to party balloons?

W... T... F...

herbig• 13 years ago

Yeah, this is a silly argument.

The downside to posting on the Internet is that you're using energy resources, whose production destroys the environment.

themstheones• 13 years ago

Thanks for the heads up. Stopping now.

baddox2• 13 years ago

I thought the only reason there's a predicted shortage is that stockpiles are being aggressively sold off, lowering the price below the point where it would be profitable to produce helium on the market. Granted, once the stockpiles run out, there could be a rough period, but the price (i.e. what buyers are willing to pay) would probably quickly return to levels which would make production profitable.

ck2• 13 years ago

When people attempt to do these things, I hope search and rescue bills them for their expense.

grecy• 13 years ago

He's going to hike out under his own steam.

CrankyPants• 13 years ago

SAR wasn't dispatched.

cgh• 13 years ago

Apparently this guy just got rescued by the CBC, of all things:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/20...

Man hoping to cross Atlantic with cluster of balloons lands in Newfoundland

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