3 ms·

“In 2016 a Florida man attempted to run from Boca Raton, FL to Bermuda in a home-made, inflatable plastic bubble. Reza Baluchi had been warned by the Coast Guar

“In 2016 a Florida man attempted to run from Boca Raton, FL to Bermuda in a home-made, inflatable plastic bubble. Reza Baluchi had been warned by the Coast Guard that any efforts to attempt his journey would be futile and result in severe legal and financial retribution. However, Reza’s convictions and ambition left him undeterred by such threats - he’d been waiting his whole life to do this and nothing was going to stop him. This is the story of that fateful journey as told by the man who attempted it.” https://youtu.be/da6_LjiIzXk https://youtu.be/da6_LjiIzXk

ricardobeat 3y ago
That video is so frustrating. The coast guard complains the “rescue” cost $144k, but nobody called for it, and then they sink $120k of private equipment for no good reason. What a waste of resources. No difference from people who cross the atlantic alone in a kayak but they don’t get forcibly rescued.
- rokkitmensch 3y ago
  Typical USG "because we can, and nobody can stop us, therefore we're correct".
senkora 3y ago
It seems to me like, if he were to have tried to do the voyage accompanied by a dedicated support boat, then the Coast Guard probably would have let him do it. On his first trip, the Coast Guard intercepted him, but eventually let him continue, but then a few days later he had to be rescued. On his second trip, they were much less lenient and forcibly removed him from the bubble. So it sounds to me like the Coast Guard didn’t think he had planned well enough to do what he was trying to do safely, and they were probably right. If he had instead done a series of progressively longer trips accompanied by a support ship ready to rescue him, and then planned to do the trip to Bermuda with a support ship, then he may have been able to convince the Coast Guard to authorize him to do the voyage.

ricardobeat 3y ago

That video is so frustrating. The coast guard complains the “rescue” cost $144k, but nobody called for it, and then they sink $120k of private equipment for no good reason. What a waste of resources. No difference from people who cross the atlantic alone in a kayak but they don’t get forcibly rescued.

rokkitmensch 3y ago
Typical USG "because we can, and nobody can stop us, therefore we're correct".

senkora 3y ago

It seems to me like, if he were to have tried to do the voyage accompanied by a dedicated support boat, then the Coast Guard probably would have let him do it. On his first trip, the Coast Guard intercepted him, but eventually let him continue, but then a few days later he had to be rescued. On his second trip, they were much less lenient and forcibly removed him from the bubble. So it sounds to me like the Coast Guard didn’t think he had planned well enough to do what he was trying to do safely, and they were probably right. If he had instead done a series of progressively longer trips accompanied by a support ship ready to rescue him, and then planned to do the trip to Bermuda with a support ship, then he may have been able to convince the Coast Guard to authorize him to do the voyage.