A man who wanted to cross the Atlantic aboard a strange craft described as a giant hamster wheel saw his dreams of an odyssey shattered by the US Coast Guard, according to court documents and US media.
While preparing to face Hurricane Franklin at the end of August, the Coast Guard spotted the vessel and its passenger off Tybee Island, Georgia, in the eastern United States.
Reza Baluchi, an Iranian activist who was a professional cyclist in Germany, told them he intended to sail more than 6,000 kilometers to London aboard his boat, “homemade” using buoys and cables, according to the complaint filed in early September by the federal authorities against the person concerned.
imaginary bomb
The coast guard deemed he had undertaken “a manifestly dangerous journey” and asked Baluchi to get off his floating wheel and into their own boat.
Alas, Baluchi refused the invitation, threatening to commit suicide by brandishing a knife and then blowing himself up with an explosive. It was only three days later that he agreed to leave his machine, described by local media as a “giant hamster wheel”. He then confessed to the authorities that his bomb did not exist.
Reza Baluchi is not his first attempt. According to the complaint, he indeed attempted the same type of exploit in 2014, 2016 and 2021 to, he claims, promote world peace, each time being rescued by the coast guard. This time, he is being prosecuted for refusing to comply, among other things.