For the first time, the name of Jean-Jacques Saven attracted media attention back in 2019. Then the 71-year-old navigator started to cross the Atlantic in a unique watercraft, an uncontrollable barrel capsule.
Feiky.net regretfully reports that, unfortunately, he did not manage to complete the current trip across the ocean.
The navigator began his solo voyage on the first day of the new year from the southern tip of Portugal. His plans were to row a two-cabin eight-meter boat “Audacieux” (dared man) to the Caribbean Islands.
Among the provisions was a bottle of champagne, foie gras, and a mandolin. On January 14, the man celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday, and Saven called the trip itself a way to laugh at old age. According to his idea, he had to row on oars every day, about eight hours.
With him, the navigator had two distillers, a heater and a speargun. But during the next communication session, he told his relatives that the solar panel was out of order and he had to spend considerable effort on using a manual distiller.
According to Saven, windy weather and high waves forced him to increase the route by almost a thousand kilometers. He intended to go to the Azores to fix the panel and assured his followers on the social network that everything would be fine with him. However, since January 20, information about his movements has not been received.
The last time the navigator got in touch shortly after midnight. He also released emergency buoys that transmitted a distress signal. The traveler’s daughter said that the rescue operation began immediately after the signal.
Approximately through the boats, the Portuguese coast guard found his ship capsized near the Azores, one and a half thousand kilometers from the place of departure. The body of Jean-Jacques Saven was found in the cabin of his boat, without signs of life. The former paratrooper, pilot and navigator this time succumbed to the elements.
