French retiree crosses Atlantic in a tiny barrel

Jean-Jacques Savin, 72, from Gironde, had a narrow escape when his tiny 6m² vessel, built out of resin-coated plywood, was nearly hit by a cargo ship.

He set off from the Canary Islands in December and had hoped to reach the other side of the Atlantic by the end of March but it took a few weeks longer than expected.

He now hopes another boat will help him to get to Martinique where his friends and family are waiting for him.

Mr Savin, who said he took up the challenge for “that feeling of freedom”, has lost 4kg during his trip. He continued to do gym exercises in his barrel and also took books and materials to write and sculpt.

“I read, I paint, I sculpt, I write, I swim, I cook ... My days fly by,” he wrote in his atlantique-tonneau.com blog.

His next plan is to write a book about the adventure – before trying to swim across the Channel.