Free Republic

A Florida man is facing federal criminal charges after he attempted to cross the Atlantic Ocean to get to England in a human-sized hamster wheel contraption, officials said. Ray "Reza" Baluchi was charged with obstruction of a boarding and violation of a captain of the port order, according to a criminal complaint. On Aug. 26, US Coast Guard officers stopped Baluchi after spotting him on his homemade vessel approximately 70 nautical miles east of Tybee Island, Georgia. It was then that he told officials he was headed to London, court documents said. Officers deemed his hamster wheel – which was...

London, Nov. 26 (ANI): A retired NATO scientist is all set to launch his toy boat on its first unmanned trip across the Atlantic. The creator, 65-year-old Robin Lovelock, has spent four years developing a craft he believes can survive the 6,000-mile journey. The boat, named Snoopy Sloop, is 4 feet long, weighs just 30lbs and is held together in parts by bathroom light cord, reports the Telegraph. The boat has already demonstrated its endurance, having completed more than 5,000 miles during seven months of continuous sailing, albeit on the gentler waters of Bray Lake, just off the M4 motorway...

GENEVA (AFP) - A Swiss-made catamaran has become the first solar-powered boat to cross the Atlantic after reaching the French Caribbean island of Martinique, the boat's owners said. Sun21 reached Martinique's Le Marin harbour at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Friday, 63 days after leaving the Spanish port of Chipiona near Cadiz, the Transatlantic21 partnership said on its website. The 14 metre (46 feet) boat largely followed the historic route sailed by explorer Christopher Columbus on the first known maritime crossing of the Atlantic in the 15th century, making its last stopover in the Canary Islands. The catamaran covered the...