In particular, it lacks any conventional boat elements like a method of propulsion or steering.
He is clearly milking the label for all it's worth though, the GPS tracker ID was "diogene" (French for Diogenes of Greek philosopher living in a barrel fame) and his sponsors included several manufacturers of wine barrels (https://www.boutes.com/), who apparently also helped build the thing.
the GPS tracker ID was "diogene" (French for Diogenes of Greek philosopher living in a barrel fame)
In that case I am slightly disappointed that the voyage was undertaken without the barrel also containing a pack of feral dogs. The resulting footage would be worth it if nothing else.
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"giant barrel" is clickbait. It's a (unpowered) boat that externally looks a bit like a barrel.
"measures about 10 feet long and seven feet wide and includes a small kitchen and bed, and space for storage."
Look at the photo, it's hard to describe that as anything but a barrel: https://dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com/cnn/q_auto,w_634,c_fill,g_auto...
In particular, it lacks any conventional boat elements like a method of propulsion or steering.
He is clearly milking the label for all it's worth though, the GPS tracker ID was "diogene" (French for Diogenes of Greek philosopher living in a barrel fame) and his sponsors included several manufacturers of wine barrels (https://www.boutes.com/), who apparently also helped build the thing.
In that case I am slightly disappointed that the voyage was undertaken without the barrel also containing a pack of feral dogs. The resulting footage would be worth it if nothing else.
The plan shows this had a keel though.
What does that do?
Maybe allow choice of current, like where it forks?
I suspect the keel attempts to stops the barrel from rolling on it's axis.
If it had a tendency to easily roll it would be like trying to live in a giant tumble dryer.
stabilization, to avoid getting upside down all the time, he could have used ballasts as well
I wish there were more details, like how he lived, his water supply, toilet arrangements, etc.
The project's website has some details: http://www.atlantique-tonneau.com
Existing only on caught fish sounds like a recipe for scurvy too. I wonder if he had anything else?
It should be ok if you eat it raw. Like the Inuit diet.
His site mentions 3 months of freeze dried food
Easy enough these days to bring some supplements.
Search for his name - other outlets have more details.
It also has a keel with the ballast.
http://www.atlantique-tonneau.com/pdf/plan.pdf
but it is a wooden barrel, just painted/coated on the outside. you can see it from the inside in this video https://youtu.be/TiohMRMdknU?t=45
Sure but the French translation and the naming of the ship itself translates to barrel.