NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE

10 September 2023: 

 Almost mid September still enjoying summer weather - though some folks are saying it's "too hot!" For those of you sweating it out, try to remember this in February when you complain about the cold! 

September is an amazing month, historically speaking. Memorable dates include:

1st: city of Atlanta falls in 1864 to Union general Sherman , 1980, wreck of Titanic discovered, 1939 Germany invades Poland.

3rd: 1777 Stars and Stripes flag first flown in battle

5th: 1972 massacre at Munich Olympics begins

6th: 1901 U.S. President McKinley shot, 1997 British Princess Di buried

7th: 1977 U.S. agrees to turn Panama Canal over to Panama on 12/31/99, 1940 Blitz begins in London, 1776 first submarine attack (unsuccessful) - Turtle tries to attach bomb to English ship in Hudson River.

8th: 2022 Queen Elizabeth II dies in England, 1942 Japanese plane drops bomb on Oregon forest - fire but no significant damage

9th: U.S wins naval battle on Lake Erie against British in War of 1812

11th: 2001 terrorists attack U.S. by flying planes into World Trade Center and Pentagon

14th: 1814 U.S. repels British attack on Baltimore (War of 1812), Battle of Lake Champlain, Francis Scott Key writes poem "Star Spangled Banner" which will, in 1931, become U.S. National Anthem

And so it goes.....there are more and maybe we'll offer them in the next post, but for now, let's get on to today's offering from Bored Panda:

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Right before summer was officially over, a 51-year-old athlete tried to cross the Atlantic in a giant hamster wheel-like contraption, only to get arrested

A Florida man was arrested last month following a peculiar three-day maritime standoff with the US Coast Guard, as he attempted to cross the Atlantic Ocean using a hamster wheel-like contraption.

 

Reza Baluchi confronted federal charges of obstruction of boarding and violation of a Captain of the Port order after he was discovered 70 miles off the Georgia coast.

The US Coast Guard cutter Valiant, patrolling the area at the time, detected the 51-year-old and successfully intercepted him. When questioned during the incident on August 26th, Mr. Baluchi claimed that his plan was to travel 4,000 miles all the way to London.[ed: never ceases to amaze]

When Coast Guard officers informed Mr. Baluchi that his voyage, deemed “manifestly unsafe” due to the contraption’s reliance on “wiring and buoys,” was being terminated, he responded by threatening to hurt himself with a 12-inch knife if anyone attempted to arrest him. Additionally, he claimed to possess a bomb on board, as indicated in the complaint filed in the US District Court in Florida.

On August 28th, following numerous attempts over several days to persuade Mr. Baluchi to abandon his mission, the Iranian American finally acknowledged that he did not possess a genuine bomb. Then, a day later, officers successfully convinced him to surrender.

 However, this wasn’t the only instance that the Iranian athlete-cum-activist tried a similar feat. Baluchi gained nationwide attention in 2021 for his endeavor to travel from Florida to New York in the Hydro Pod, but his journey came to an abrupt end when he washed up ashore just 25 miles later.

“I don’t have a car. I put everything in my life in it,” he told the New York Times at the time, saying “Now, I’m dead,” upon learning that his contraption would be confiscated, much like what has happened this time around.

The self-made machine, which costs thousands of dollars to make, was afloat as a result of wiring and buoys and has a hammock inside

According to earlier interviews, Mr. Baluchi cited his motivations for these voyages as raising funds for multiple causes, including initiatives aimed at helping the homeless and – ironically – supporting the Coast Guard.

“My goal is to not only raise money for homeless people, raise money for the Coast Guard, raise money for the police department, raise money for the fire department,” he told WOFL-TV in 2021.

According to court documents, Mr. Baluchi was granted release on Tuesday after posting a $250,000 bond. The documents explicitly state that he “may not go to the ocean or board a vessel on to the ocean.”

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Amazing indeed! As for us, we prefer a sound, well-found vessel! 

Until next time, 

                                 Fair Winds,

                                             Old Salt