Florida man arrested after fourth attempt at “Hamster Wheel” voyage ends in failure Photo credit: Flagler County Sheriff’s Office
Over recent times I have brought you some crazy and weird stories, but I have to say this one is right up there and having read it, I am staggered by its absurdity. Do read on.
Once again, the U.S. Coast Guard has intercepted and detained a former professional athlete for an ill-advised fourth attempt to cross the Atlantic in a drum-like paddle wheel device of his own design.
Reza Baluchi was making another attempt to make a human-powered ocean voyage with an improvised craft. His vessel was a human-powered cylinder, which has been compared to a hamster wheel.
Baluchi’s previous attempts have not fared well either. After this incident, the Coast Guard warned him that he would have to conduct any future voyages in this device with a support vessel alongside, or not at all. Baluchi has repeatedly breached that order.
The latest attempt ended shortly after it began. A U.S. Coast Guard cutter intercepted Baluchi about 70 miles off Tybee Island. This time, Baluchi told officers that he was on his way to London, and he resisted a boarding. Baluchi allegedly told the Coast Guard that he would take his own life if anyone tried to detain him. He later upgraded that threat by claiming there was a bomb on board, and that he would detonate it to prevent arrest. After a two-day standoff, Baluchi admitted that there was no bomb onboard. One day later, he was into Coast Guard custody. Baluchi has been charged with obstructing a boarding and violating a captain of the port order. “Based on the condition of the vessel, which was afloat as a result of wiring and buoys, USCG officers determined Baluchi was conducting a manifestly unsafe voyage,” the arresting officer said in a charging document.
Frankly I have few words to add to this bizarre story.
Photo courtesy Scripps Institution of Oceanography / UC San Diego
One of the world’s weirdest vessels has been scrapped
I read recently that the end was nigh for one of the world’s strangest looking vessels, which has now been scrapped. The vessel, known simply as FLIP (Floating Instrument Platform), was a unique oceanographic research tool that exemplified the ingenuity of scientists and engineers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, which operated the vessel.
Launched in 1962, the unique vessel was designed to “flip” from a horizontal to a vertical position by filling its ballast tanks with water, allowing the 355-foot vessel to remain nearly motionless in ocean swells. It was this characteristic that made it such a valuable tool for science exploration.
“It was like being on land except in the middle of the ocean. It was just glorious,” remembered Scripps oceanographer John Hildebrand, who used the platform’s stability and relative silence to study marine mammal sounds. “There were things you could do with it that you couldn’t do any other way.”
Although the unique vessel has been towed off for the last time, a piece of it remains at Scripps. The institution has arranged for one of FLIP’s booms to be removed and mounted onto a pier, where it will continue to be used to deploy instruments into the water. That’s a nice, nostalgic touch. Farewell old friend.
Another day another dollar as the saying goes. Back next month. Mike Schwarz
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