BON VOYAGE

71-Year-Old Frenchman Crossing Atlantic Ocean in Barrel

The vessel is complete with a kitchen and sleeping area.

Jean-Jacques Savin, a 71-year-old Frenchman, has begun a trip across the Atlantic Ocean in a barrel of his own design. The specially constructed seven-foot wide resin-coated plywood vessel is outfitted with a kitchen, mattress, and storage space. The souped-up barrel, complete with a French flag, is designed to use ocean currents alone to propel him across the sea. Savin plans to dock in the Caribbean in about three months. He set off from El Hierro in Spain’s Canary Islands on Wednesday and is aiming to “sail” about 2,800 miles total. He will drop markers along the trip to assist oceanographers in their study of currents in the Atlantic Ocean.