Reza Baluchi tried to "run" from Florida to London in a homemade vessel during hurricane season.
  • @AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    187•10 months ago

    I saw the headline and wondered if this was a repost. Nope. If I had a nickel for every time this guy has been arrested for ocean hamster wheel shenanigans, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t much, but it’s weird that it happened twice.

      • Decoy321English
        38•10 months ago

        I don’t think he actually expects to get very far in any of his tries. The attention from his eventual arrest and following news articles are his actual goals. Kinda like that flat earth rocket guy. And they’ll both probably end the same way, dead by hubris.

        • 1chemistdown
          50•10 months ago

          This guy has a long history of doing things to completion. Ran the perimeter of USA, ran from LA to NYC after 9/11. Big cycling stuff. He is an actual world class athlete. I think he really wants to do this but lacks the finances and connections to have the support needed for such an expedition.

          • Decoy321English
            13•10 months ago

            Thanks for that info, it’s certainly new to me. The only times I’ve heard of him were for his last attempts at this same stunt.

    • @dutchkimble@lemy.lolEnglish
      35•10 months ago

      I think you’re in luck, the article says he’s tried 3 similar voyages before, so if it’s his fourth your nickel fortune is going to double!

      • @Etterra@lemmy.worldEnglish
        51•10 months ago

        Probably for operating an unregistered watercraft or not having a transponder. The kind of things maritime law requires for stuff like not getting shot be some idiot, not being IDed as a naval mine by the Navy, search & rescue, not hitting other ships, customs and border enforcement, etc, compelling border compliance, etc. There’s a surprising amount of rules for doing stuff in the ocean.

        Edit: apparently the vessel isn’t technically seaworthy, there was a hurricane evacuation notice in the area, and he also threatened to kill himself and claimed to have a bomb. All of these things are usually guaranteed to piss off the government to varying degrees.

  • @drislands@lemmy.worldEnglish
    106•10 months ago

    Officials said he refused to step off the vessel and threatened to kill himself. He also claimed that he had a bomb on board, according to court papers.

    Oh so he’s not a cool weirdo, he’s a terrible weirdo. Damn.

          • Lev_AstovEnglish
            2•10 months ago

            It’s surely sturdy, but it also looks like a death trap in a storm. But mostly it looks like he never came up with a solution to his drifting-backwards-faster-than-he-can-paddle-forwards problem that plagued his previous attempts. It’s got so much sail area and so little control surface that even a little wind will blow him around.

        • Echo DotEnglish
          2•10 months ago

          He should come to the UK and then cross from England to France. That would actually be a reasonable crossing and he’d probably be allowed to do it provided he got prior permission, but the Atlantic, nah.

  • GhostalmediaEnglish
    24•10 months ago

    He’s trying to “raise money for the Coast Guard.”

    So does he just hand the check directly to the Guardsman in the Coast Guard vessel when they’re forced to drag his yoga ball wheel out of the ocean for a 4th time?

      • GhostalmediaEnglish
        3•10 months ago

        Like with other branches of the armed services, there are charities for vets and their families.

        But if you want to give to the guard more directly, the US government has a program that collects once a year before April 15th. HR Block will happily help you give.

  • R0cket_M00seEnglish
    13•10 months ago

    Instead of raising money for the coast guard he could just… not waste their time needing rescued.

  • @supercriticalcheese@feddit.itEnglish
    13•10 months ago

    I’m not an expert in maritime law, or any law for that matter, but why they had to help him?

    If he wanted to be in danger he succeeded, provided he doesn’t request the coastal guard for assistance he is not hurting anything but himself. Is It because his hamster wheel might have been a hazard to other boats?

    • @barsoap@lemm.eeEnglish
      8•10 months ago

      Article 98 UNCLOS, “Duty to render assistance”:

      1. Every State shall require the master of a ship flying its flag, in so far as he can do so without serious danger to the ship, the crew or the passengers:

      a. to render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being lost;
      b. to proceed with all possible speed to the rescue of persons in distress, if informed of their need of assistance, in so far as such action may reasonably be expected of him;
      c. after a collision, to render assistance to the other ship, its crew and its passengers and, where possible, to inform the other ship of the name of his own ship, its port of registry and the nearest port at which it will call.

      1. Every coastal State shall promote the establishment, operation and maintenance of an adequate and effective search and rescue service regarding safety on and over the sea and, where circumstances so require, by way of mutual regional arrangements cooperate with neighbouring States for this purpose.
      • @supercriticalcheese@feddit.itEnglish
        1•10 months ago

        Thank you barsoap! So even if there is no assistance request is given if the person is clearly lost or soon to be in need of assistance you need to provide assistance.

  • AutoTL;DRBEnglish
    11•10 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    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.

    “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.

    On 1 September, he eventually surrendered and abandoned his vessel after being brought to a Coast Guard base in Miami.

    In 2021, he was arrested after being rescued while trying to ride from Florida to New York after drifting 30 miles south of his departure point.

    According to previous interviews, Mr Baluchi said he was attempting the voyages to raise money for a variety of causes, including for the homeless and the Coast Guard.

    The original article contains 398 words, the summary contains 150 words. Saved 62%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

    • @morphballganon@mtgzone.comEnglish
      12•10 months ago

      he was arrested after being rescued while trying to ride from Florida to New York after drifting 30 miles south of his departure point

      How do we know education is failing in Florida?

      New York is north of Florida, not south.

  • qyronEnglish
    11•10 months ago

    At this point, the guy should have already gathered some support to help him make the cross.

    Crazier things have been done.