Frenchman sets sail across Atlantic in a barrel!

But a bit further West and he will cross the halfway line.

The wind is not going to be favourable for him over the next few days, I wonder how many more lost days he can afford.

 

It is unlikely that he will make it out as far as my guess. I don't know what I was thinking.

 

We need more frequent position reports to satisfy my competitiveness

 

I guess it will be close to the middle between Tlouth7 and Dolfiman, the outcome will also depend on how long after 2359 GMT his 1st check-in will be.

I was again far to pessimistic for this game . . .

 

He might be on a diet ration for a while now, and might have an manual powered watermaker, ½ the planned daily ration of food won't let him die, and would double the time available, the trip isn't about having fun anyway . . .

Haven't figured out what the actual reason for the trip could be . . ? ?

 

About his water management , from his last vacation 02-05 :
" For water supply on board, there are two foot pumps. The sea water comes to the sink which allows me to wash teeth, cook, cleaning the sink as well as laundry. This allows me to save the fresh water that is filtered through a manual desalinator that I have already talked about.
To do this I pump the water through a pipe that I let hang from the porthole and I recover the water in a recipient attached to the foot of the ladder, in which a suction pipe that connects the pump to the sink . I only use fresh water to drink, wash, cook and wash clothes.
It's a simple system that works very well.
In spare I have 50 liters in Jerrycan that serve me to balance the barrel. We will talk about it tomorrow if you wish."

 

Thanks for the info Dolfiman !

 

I was thinking that only a psychiatrist might know, but...…….

 

Now that's a famous guy, he should know . . .

 

Motivation of such adventure can be to make a break in one's life, the need of an introspective experience, or of a sailing fulfillment that one has promised to do once retired, usually a combination of these reasons. Then, you can add or not a dose of eccentricity, of extreme performance, it is typically this drifting barrel experience.
More usual is the dream of a small sailing boat for an ocean crossing challenge, for the search of a pleasant but not extreme experience. For naval architect that leads to the Oceanic Micro to Mini cruiser issue, a specification often resumed by « small is beautiful », although there is a limit beyond which « too small is a nightmare ». I have tried to investigate this issue, mostly conditioned by the minimum of confort that you are ready to accept and by the necessary payload for an oceanic crossing : I propose you here attached a tentative rationale, a parametric specification and two illustrations. The spreadsheet application of the specification is also attached, so you can change the assumptions that I have take for illustrations.

 

Results are in!

Distance from Dolfimann's guess - 54.14 Nautical Miles
Distance from TLouth7's guess - 49.58 Nautical Miles

So I just clinched it, sorry Dolfimann. Some stats from the last 10 days:
Total distance (straight line) - 232 NMi
Average speed - 0.967 kt
Total distance (between daily positions) - 254 NMi

Frenchman in a Barrel Pool - Google My Maps https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-85FL-zqZMTj0nLP_3OXi8ZpfcSKV2ku&usp=sharing

 

Looks like Angélique and I are about tied for last. He way north and me way west.

 

Congrats Tlouth7, the last 24h were fatal for my guess !

 

About drifting, this astonished North Atlantic crossing, east to west, of a capsized trimaran :
*** 07 Nov. 2017, within Jacques Vabre race, capsize of the Multi 50 Drekan groupe in the east of Azores :
News - Multi50 Drekan Groupe capsizes off the coast of Portugal - Transat Jacques Vabre 2019 https://www.transatjacquesvabre.org/en/news/news/263/multi50-drekan-groupe-capsizes-off-the-coast-of-portugal
*** Two days ago, 08 Feb. 2019, after 15 months of drifting, the capsized tri is found off Eleuthera beach Bahamas, in apparent good shape ! :
https://voilesetvoiliers.ouest-fran...-bahamas-b10560e8-2b99-11e9-acaa-8c4a99b7a5ec

 

Races and pools with two are the best for me, then the last one becomes second, and the first one becomes second to last.