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Comment by StarterPro | Hacker News Reader

So a man can't cross the Atlantic in a hamster wheel, but rich people can go to the bottom of the Atlantic? Unfair

Had he ever demonstrated that could get further than his own state, you might have a point. But those reading TFA all the way to the end know that it’s not the first time the Coast Guard has pulled him out of the water, and it’s not been far from where he started.

What wasn’t clear from the article is if he needed to be pulled out of the water or if the coast guard “rescued” him because they just assumed he was insane. (Which seems reasonable). He does however seem to not want to be rescued and allows to hamster wheel himself to a probable death. I do wonder why he isn’t allowed to, people do all sorts of insane things and die doing it and they’re allowed to, such as difficult climbs without ropes.

Probably because a few days at sea later... he'll pop his emergency beacon and the Coast Guard will spend a bunch of time and resources plucking him out of the water.

With ocean currents, winds, etc., it seems vastly unlikely his contraption would have traveled any distance the ocean didn't allow anyway.

"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."

For those not familiar with U. S. geography, New York is north of Florida, not south.

The article clearly stated he is facing charges for obstruction of boarding so the Coast Guard had probable cause to board and he refused and said he had a bomb.

Given that this is his third/fourth attempt at hamster wheeling in the Atlantic they probably knew exactly who it was when they got the call.

30 miles in entirely the wrong direction is actually much further than I'd have expected him to get

This guy was clearly crazy, made suicide and bomb threats, and was stopped before. There was also little to no real chance he'd make it; this isn't like swimming the English Channel, and even then those attempting it had boats & support.

The imploded submersible guy was well known in the industry to be cutting corners and playing fast and loose, but had done successful dives in the past, and had a boat there to support him. Playing fast and loose in a sub will eventually get you killed -- and it did -- but there was at least something of a track record.

From the article:

> 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.

Fortunately he did not actually have a bomb on board.

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