The man who, in four months, crossed the Atlantic in a "barrel" drifting

PARIS.- At 72, the adventurer

French

Jean-Jacques Savin has just entered history as he was the first man to cross the Atlantic adrift, with the added peculiarity of doing so. in a "barrel".

Savin spent more than four months on a trip that brought him from the Canary Islands on Dec. 26 to his final destination in the Caribbean, in a barrel-shaped capsule that he built himself. as a means of transport.

Its landing at the end of April caused a sensation among the inhabitants surprised of the small island of San Eustaquio, which counts 2 000 inhabitants, after a fearless journey of 4 715 kilometers.

Savin was moving at a speed of a little over three kilometers an hour, without a motor, relying entirely on ocean currents to guide his journey.

"After 122 days and nine hours, the meridian has positioned me in the Caribbean Sea, the crossing is over, thanks to everyone," Savin said.
in your Facebook account, in a message accompanied by a photo blurred with your GPS.

In commenting on his disciples, he decided to embark on this adventure for "the feeling of freedom". His "companion", as he calls his barrel, made in a small shipyard in Arès, is three meters long, weighs 450 kilos and has a living area of ​​6 square meters.

Whoever has been Savin's house for four months has a breath on each side and a hatch at the top so that the French can go out when the weather permits.

This veteran was inspired by the adventure of his "spiritual father", the navigator Alain Bombard, who in 1952 crossed the Atlantic alone in a rubber dinghy.