Chris Todd intended to cross the Irish Sea between England and Ireland 'on foot' to raise £10,000 for charity. Here's what his unique 'hamster wheel' boat looked like.
Sadly, his attempt earlier this month met with disaster. The Daily Mail reports:
Chris Todd was aiming to raise thousand of pounds [for] charity by hamster-wheeling his way across the sea - but at around 10.30pm [on October 6th], the 35-year-old had to call time on his home-made contraption after the winds picked up and his rudders gave way.
The attempt, on behalf of the the Wiltshire Blind Association and the RNLI, had to come to an end nine hours and 15 miles in to the proposed mission.
Luckily a support team was there to pick up Chris - but sadly the hamster wheel ended up on the sea-bed, where it will lie undisturbed and waiting to perplex future historians.
There's more at the link. He's apparently going to build another, stronger version of his 'hamster wheel' boat and try again next year. I wish him luck . . . but I can't help wondering what future marine archaeologists will make of the wreckage, if they ever find it centuries from now!
Peter
It wouldn't be the first weird boat found at the bottom of the drink. Years ago some divers found the wreck of a horse-powered boat in one of the Great Lakes, and they found it quite perplexing for a while. Turns out they weren't that uncommon in the 19th century, though it seems the Lakes were a bit much for them.
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