A Frenchman has set off to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a barrel-shaped orange capsule, using ocean currents alone to propel him.
Jean-Jacques Savin, 71, left El Hierro in Spain’s Canary Islands and hopes to reach the Caribbean in as little as three months.
His reinforced capsule contains a sleeping bunk, kitchen and storage.
He will drop markers along the way to help oceanographers study Atlantic currents.
“The weather is great. I’ve got a swell of one metre (3ft) and I’m moving at 2-3km/h,” he told AFP news agency by telephone.
“For the time being my capsule is behaving very, very well and I’ve got favourable winds forecast until Sunday.”
Mr Savin is a former military paratrooper and has also worked as a park ranger and a pilot.
He believes ocean currents alone will carry his resin-coated plywood vessel about 4,500km (2,800 miles) to the Caribbean.
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