Just another day for the Coast Guard

An ultra-marathoner’s attempt to “run” from Florida to Bermuda in an inflatable bubble was cut short when the Coast Guard towed him back to land – for the second time.

https://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/25/us/bubble-man-rescue/index.html

I see from his Wikipedia page that trying to run across the ocean in a bubble is kinda his thing, but seriously, the only "successful" trip he's apparently made so far is a 30 mile one from Newport Beach, CA to Catalina Island. He needs to island-hop from Florida to the Bahamas to the Antilles or something instead of trying to YOLO straight from a 30-mile trip to a 1,000-one. And he needs to quit skipping out on having a support boat.
- I mean, anything that can’t be done in a day is going to be a serious issue. Unless he has an anchor in there with him. Which he obviously doesn’t. So when he sleeps, he could be drifting anywhere. Does he have mariner level gps in there? He wouldn’t be able to power it without a battery, and that would only last so long, unless he also has a solar panel in there with him…and he would have to carry it all when he’s…running across the ocean.
- But that costs money and would bring him less of the attention that he craves.
Last I heard of this guy was last year during attempt #4 Source

would you not just bake inside that thing?

The article quotes him saying it can get to 120F in that thing. No thank you.
- That's 49° for the rest of us.
The story didn’t mention him bringing edibles
- It seems like it might be... implied? :-P
Yes.

coast guard should fine him for littering the sea with plastic garbage. If he wants to die in the ocean he should do it like everyone else

Sorry, how does everyone else die in the ocean?
- Diving to see the Titanic
- Being seduced by sirens of course.
- Jump off the Golden Gate Bridge?
- They identify as shark food.
Maybe he had a box for trash?

Congratulations! You are being rescued. Please do not resist.

This sounds like it could be a fun experience for a day, weather permitting. More than that is insanity.

My first thought: chilling in the bubble ... "I need to shit. Oh, oh no. Oh fuck me, no."
- You’d think the bubble would have a poop hole.
Did you mean for an hour?
- Nah, I like longer experiments. It's conceivable to pack enough food and water for a whole day.

does he shit inside it??

I imagine there must be an opening to let air in sometimes.
- Only in. No out. Perfect for smellz.
He probably shits out the hole he fishes through.
- In all my years in the industry I’ve learned to follow this simple rule: never shit out the hole you fish through.
- Seems like you should have an in hole and an out hole :(

He should do it again if he managed to raise $144k for charity!

I mean that's how much was spent on his rescue...

how on earth do you spend 144k to tow some air bubble back to the coast?
- Salaries for the entire crew of a Coast Guard cutter (100+ people) for however long it took to find and retrieve him would be a big-ticket item. Plus all the fuel and other operational costs for the cutter, along with the same for a C-130 search plane, MH-60 rescue helicopter, and whatever other stuff they used.
- Hiring a boat, a chopper or two and supporting a healthy military industrial complex.
- Boat fuel isn't cheap, and those ships are thirsty.
- Aviation fuel, marine fuel. Spendy.

That hammock in the middle of that bubble... That sounds like an amazing nights sleep.

Until the waves are 100x the bubble lol
- I don't know, still seems cool.

Let the boy run across the ocean in a bubble!

https://media.tenor.com/VAbJK26NHWoAAAAM/chrisfarley-chris.gif

Just leave them.

How does he breathe, and if there are valves, how do they let in only air and not water, considering the ball is spinning?

Is this really a rescue? Is there anything inherently dangerous about going out to sea in an enclosed bubble with rations?

If you have any clue how big an ocean is, then yes, it’s a rescue from absolute stupidity. And from starvation, sun burn, dehydration. But mostly from stupidity.
- I would be more worried about oxygen than the things you mentioned.
- Yeah, I guess I didn't think apart how quickly the tides would pull him out from the coast. Maybe he's skilled enough at navigation to find his way back in open ocean? It's not impossible to swim across seas for experienced swimmers, and I think the bubble would help with exhaustion, though if anything it would make sun burn worse.

Wow the comment section does not reinforce the very little faith I have left in humanity .

Yeah seriously. People saying “just leave him”, like for real? The dude is in obvious danger…he’s a fucking idiot, and maybe should be fined for the rescue effort, but good lord you can’t just leave him in such a high risk situation like that. He doesn’t deserve to die for this like c’mon
- We let people skydive, base dive, and tight rope walk without safety gear. People can go caving, who is it to decide what is and isn’t dangerous than someone’s own self?
  People need to get their heads out of their asses and let people live their own lives.
- HE DIDNT NEED OR WANT TO BE 'RESCUED'.
  Why do people have this weird ass obsession with forcing their views on people, then demanding THEY be charged because YOU think they should be doing something different?
  His life, his choice. This is his SECOND time doing this so CLEARLY he knows because those that 'saved him' would have already told him the dangers he would have obviously already known to begin with.
- Especially a terrible death like that. Stranded at sea is a terrible way to die as you have mo chelter from the sun and dehydrate to death over a couple days. And chances are that there are as many fish around you as birds. The open ocean is essentially a desert with no water to drink, no food to eat, and no shelter from the sun.
Yup no desire to actually learn facts, cnn is reporting very little information that is easy to obtain online without doing real investigative work. Baluchi is a strong athlete, and in 2014 he had to be rescued at his own request by Coast guard. So taxpayer dollars were wasted then. But 2016 there is no indication in the article about who asked for help, was he going on his merry way and coast guard decided to be an ass? Or did he call it quits and didn't have an escape strategy and use coast guard as such? I don't know, but people have seemed to form opinions already.

Love the bit where taxpayers are footing the bill to save him.

No one is "saving" him. The Coast Guard has repeatedly and unilaterally decided to hassle this guy every time he puts to sea over red tape and other trivial shit. The word you're searching for is actually "harassing." He did not ask to be rescued and never indicated he was in distress.
- He knew they would harass him and he couldn’t find a guy to tail him in a boat?
- Until the moment when they find some dead dude in a giant bubble and now the coast guard is liable for his death.

Did he think fishes in the ocean are pre-cooked and would just swim into his hands willingly ?