Athlete Attempts to Travel From Florida to Bermuda via Floating Bubble

Reza Baluchi may never fulfill his dream of traversing thousands of miles of open ocean inside an inflatable bubble, but he at least deserves an award for persistence. After his second shot at the journey was thwarted by high winds Wednesday night, the Sun Sentinel reports that Baluchi vowed to try again once the weather clears up.

The 44-year-old long distance runner first attempted the 1000-mile trip from Florida to Bermuda in 2014. He had floated 185 miles north of his starting point when the Coast Guard determined Baluchi was in "grave danger" and airlifted him out of his hydropod.

This time, Baluchi wants to make sure he does things right. The ultra-marathoner has been jumping rope in a sauna for an hour each day to prepare for the bubble's maximum temperatures of 130 degrees. He's bringing with him an emergency phone, a GPS-outfitted life jacket, shark repellent, and a filter for drinking ocean water. He conceded and came back to shore Wednesday night after the wind kept pushing him back to land, but he says he'll relaunch in a few days. 

Not content with just reaching Bermuda by bubble, Baluchi also plans to hit Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Key West before returning to his departure point of Pompano Beach—a trip that would total 3500 miles. "I'll wait for better weather," he told the Sun Sentinel. "I'm going to give it three days, Sunday is supposed to be bad." To keep the Coast Guard from foiling his plans again, Baluchi avoided revealing an exact time. 

[h/t Sun Sentinel]

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