Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A Florida man was arrested after trying to ‘run to London’ across the Atlantic Ocean in a homemade vessel resembling a hamster wheel. The US Coast Guard intercepted Reza Baluchi about 70 miles (110km) off Tybee Island, Georgia on 26 August. Officials said the 44-year-old marathon runner refused to leave the vessel for three days. Mr Baluchi has tried three similar voyages before, all of which ended in Coast Guard intervention. The makeshift contraption he was using is shaped as a wheel, with paddles that are designed to propel it forward as the wheel revolves. ‘Based on the condition of the vessel — which was afloat as a result of wiring and buoys — [US Coast Guard] officers determined Baluchi was conducting a manifestly unsafe voyage,’ the criminal complaint says. Mr Baluchi’s voyage began as officials were preparing for the arrival of a major hurricane.” (09/06/23)