# Voyaging by hamster wheel **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 7, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711 "2023-09-07T01:08:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/1 "2023-09-07T01:08:58Z")
A headline you don’t see every day: [Florida man arrested by Coast Guard for trying to cross Atlantic in human-sized hamster wheel](https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-man-arrested-coast-guard-trying-cross-atlantic-human-sized-hamster-wheel?spark_wn=1) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/2 "2023-09-07T01:31:48Z")
That makes [Lawnchair Larry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawnchair_Larry_flight) look like a veritable Einstein. At least I now know that undertaking a “manifestly unsafe voyage” is actually against the law. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/3 "2023-09-07T01:47:37Z")
While the Florida Man in question is clearly a few shiners short of a shoal, I have to wonder what the Coast Guard would have made of Harbo and Samuelson’s [vessel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Samuelsen_and_George_Harbo#/media/File:Samuelsen_and_Harbo_and_boat.gif). ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/4 "2023-09-07T02:08:28Z")
Why would the Coast Guard stop him? How was what he was attempting illegal? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/5 "2023-09-07T02:09:26Z")
The would-be hamster claimed to be raising money. > “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,” Baluchi said. “They are in public service, they do it for safety, and they help other people.” I get the impression that he thought that they should have let him continue because he was (or claimed to be) raising money for charitable purposes. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/6 "2023-09-07T02:19:43Z")
I was fully behind him right up until: > Baluchi threatened to kill himself with a 12-inch knife if anyone tried to apprehend him, and claimed to have a bomb aboard I guess Florida Man just can’t help doing Florida Man shit. If he got sponsors and permits and a support vessel they’d probably let him do it, but that’s clearly well outside of this man’s abilities to organize. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/7 "2023-09-07T02:26:30Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > Why would the Coast Guard stop him? [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-33/chapter-I/subchapter-S/part-177](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-33/chapter-I/subchapter-S/part-177) > An operator of a boat who is directed by a Coast Guard Boarding Officer to take immediate and reasonable steps necessary for the safety of those aboard the vessel, under [section 4308 of Title 46, United States Code](https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/46/4308), shall follow the direction of the Coast Guard Boarding Officer, which may include direction to: > > (a) Correct the especially hazardous condition immediately; > > (b) Proceed to a mooring, dock, or anchorage; or > > (c) Suspend further use of the boat until the especially hazardous condition is corrected. > For the purpose of [section 4308 of Title 46, United States Code](https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/46/4308), “other unsafe condition” means a boat: > > (f) Designated manifestly unsafe for a specific voyage on a specific body of water due to: > > (1) Unsuitable design or configuration, or > > (2) Improper construction or inadequate material condition, or > > (3) Improper or inadequate operational or safety equipment, and set forth in an order issued by a District Commander according to the provisions of [§ 177.04](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-33/section-177.04). ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/8 "2023-09-07T02:37:43Z")
He has a history of failed bubble expeditions: > **[Reza Baluchi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reza_Baluchi)** > > Reza Ray Baluchi (born 1972) is an Iranian athlete and activist living in the United States. He has several times attempted to travel long distances off the East Coast of the United States in a self-propelled water craft resembling a hamster ball, which he calls a hydro pod or bubble. > Baluchi was born in Rasht, and in Iran was tortured and served 18 months of a two-year sentence for offenses against Islam; as of October 2014\[update\] he is a Catholic. After cycling for the Iranian national team... ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/9 "2023-09-07T02:42:44Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > An operator of a boat Could he just say, it’s not a boat? Is there a definition of what constitutes a boat? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/10 "2023-09-07T02:52:22Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > Is there a definition of what constitutes a boat? > **[33 CFR § 177.03 - Definitions.](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/33/177.03)** > (b) Boat means any vessel— > > (1) Manufactured or [used](https://www.law.cornell.edu/definitions/index.php?width=840&height=800&iframe=true&def_id=a76c8f6e8d2aaca937611c874eddd179&term_occur=999&term_src=Title:33:Chapter:I:Subchapter:S:Part:177:177.03) primarily for noncommercial [use](https://www.law.cornell.edu/definitions/index.php?width=840&height=800&iframe=true&def_id=a76c8f6e8d2aaca937611c874eddd179&term_occur=999&term_src=Title:33:Chapter:I:Subchapter:S:Part:177:177.03); And a vessel is: > (f) Vessel includes every description of watercraft, other than a seaplane on the water, [used](https://www.law.cornell.edu/definitions/index.php?width=840&height=800&iframe=true&def_id=a76c8f6e8d2aaca937611c874eddd179&term_occur=999&term_src=Title:33:Chapter:I:Subchapter:S:Part:177:177.03) or capable of being [used](https://www.law.cornell.edu/definitions/index.php?width=840&height=800&iframe=true&def_id=a76c8f6e8d2aaca937611c874eddd179&term_occur=999&term_src=Title:33:Chapter:I:Subchapter:S:Part:177:177.03) as a means of transportation on the water. Perhaps he could claim that the vessel is so poorly designed that it’s not actually capable of being used for transportation on the water. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/11 "2023-09-07T04:35:37Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > it’s not actually capable of being used for transportation on the water. In spite of the immediate first-person evidence that it is being used at that very moment as water transportation. I guess if you could go full-on sovcit and argue what you were doing was somehow not transportation but… some other word that I can’t make up because I’m not a sovcit whackjob. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/12 "2023-09-07T09:12:00Z")
The vessel appears to be totally uncontrollable. Shouldn’t being a form of transportation require a non-zero probability of arriving at your destination? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/13 "2023-09-07T15:10:03Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > The vessel appears to be totally uncontrollable. That’s what I was thinking-- how ya steer the guldarn thing? Seems like a big inflatable sphere would do better, provided it was reasonably puncture-resistant… > **[Water Ball - Walking on Water is Easy And Fun! - ZorbingTime](https://www.zorbingtime.com/water-ball/)** > > Ever thought you can walk on water? Here is how. The water ball is a very fun type of human hamster ball. Get inside the water waking ball and... ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/14 "2023-09-07T15:13:57Z")
I had to check to see if this was a zombie thread because I’d seen this story before (as **Walken\_After\_Midnight** noted). I don’t know if it was his attempt in 2014 or 2016 that I was remembering. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/15 "2023-09-07T15:36:49Z")
I think in practice, that “boat” is more wind-powered than human powered. It doesn’t matter how fast you run, that thing is going whichever direction the wind is blowing. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/16 "2023-12-20T18:25:15Z")
News bump: > **[He tried to cross the ocean on a hamster wheel. After federal charges, here's...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2023/12/20/reza-baluchi-hamster-wheel-walk-across-atlantic-ocean/71978081007/)** > > The Coast Guard ordered Reza Baluchi to stop his voyages aboard a floating wheel. He has agreed with federal authorities about what he'll do next. Guy managed to negotiate a pre-trial diversion which forbids his ever trying this kind of stunt again over water, either fabricating another “vessel” or making another attempt using any kind of unseaworthy thing of any provenance. Also mandatory safe-boating classes, because obviously the root problem was a lack of good seamanship training. Guy has shifted goals from “walking around the world on water” to “walking around the world on land”, which is arguably less cloudcuckoolander nuts. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/17 "2023-12-20T18:35:21Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Guy has shifted goals from “walking around the world on water” to “walking around the world on land”, which is arguably less cloudcuckoolander nuts. 2024 news report: man arrested for trying to cross the Himalayas wearing shorts and flip-flops. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyaging-by-hamster-wheel/989711/18 "2023-12-20T19:41:59Z")
I’m guessing it’d be more quirky and/or dangerous… 2024 news report: man arrested for trying to cross the Himalayas on a pogo stick, while wearing roller skates.