After 127 days and 3,125 nm, Jean-Jacques Savin, a 72-year French adventurer, is back on dry land, having crossed the Atlantic in his ten-foot-long barrel propelled only by the ocean currents. He left El Hierro in the Canary Islands in December, hoping that the currents and winds would carry him to the Caribbean. He sent out a message after 122 days that his GPS showed that he had reached the meridian marking the Caribbean; he then drifted for five more days before a passing oil tanker picked him and took him to the small Dutch island of St. Eustatius, the nearest port (and a bit northwest of Antigua).
Savin, a former paratrooper, pilot and park ranger, had already sailed across the Atlantic a few times. He studied ocean currents for many years, and thought he could make it to the Caribbean in three months. It took a bit longer, and he ended up farther north than he had anticipated, but he became the first person to cross the Atlantic without sail, motor or human power.
He built the barrel himself of resin-coated plywood. It weighs about 1,000 pounds and has a galley, a bunk, a chart table, storage space and porthole in the hull so he can watch passing fish.
When Savin saw the tanker approaching to rescue him, he wrote, “It is there, magnificent. Its orange shell merges with the declining sunshine. The ship advances slowly, a rope ladder is deployed too short by one meter. Taking advantage of a wave, I manage to catch it and slowly go up. Goodby salt water. You have brought me a lot.”
Once on board, he took his first shower in 127 days, “hot and soapy,” and when the crew asked what he wanted to eat, he replied, two eggs.
On his previous adventures, Savin has climbed Mont Blanc and finished in second place in the French triathlon championship. Once he gets back home and rests a bit, he wants to swim across the English Channel. You can read more on his Facebook page, BOUTESA.
