A longtime marathon runner and peace activist whose latest goal was to travel from Miami to Bermuda in a homemade inflatable bubble was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday about 70 miles off the coast of Florida after he began suffering from fatigue, authorities said.
Reza Baluchi, a runner who advertised his human-powered trip across the ocean to Bermuda, down to Puerto Rico and back to southern Florida on his website, aimed to "walk on water" in a hydropod for more than 1,000 miles. But three days after refusing initial requests from the Coast Guard to abandon the voyage, he gave up and activated a locating beacon on Saturday morning, ABC News reported.
"If you run into trouble, there's no guarantee that we'll be able to get to you in time or even find you," a dispatcher previously told Baluchi after receiving a report on Wednesday that the bubble was only stocked with water and protein bars, according to NBC News.
"OK, I'm continuing to go," Baluchi replied, claiming he had been preparing for the journey since the past two years.
The Coast Guard was able to safely hoist him up and transport the 42-year-old to a nearby air station in Clearwater, Fla., for a medical evaluation, Coast Guard spokeswoman Marilyn Fajardo said in a statement.
The adventurist, who was suffering from exhaustion but not injured, was "reportedly disoriented and asking for directions to Bermuda," the Coast Guard said in a statement.
In his self-designed bubble, the Iranian exile had planned to raise money "for children in need" and "to ... inspire those that have lost hope for a better future," a statement on Baluchi's website said.
"According to the website, Baluchi planned to run in the bubble in the mornings, cool off in the sea while leashed to the floating sphere, and sleep in a hammock inside it at night," Fox News reported. "In addition to the protein bars the Coast Guard said it found in his bubble, he planned to catch and eat fish, the site said."
In 2007, Baluchi ran across the perimeter of the United States two times. Earlier this year, he successfully trekked 30 miles from Newport Beach, Calif., to Catalina Island. Now, he hopes to run through all the recognized countries in the world, according to his website, "to inspire us and unite us as a people."
