Self-proclaimed “aspiring bubble runner” Reza Baluchi has been a thorn in the Coast Guard’s side since his first attempt to run across the Caribbean Sea in November 2014. 

When Baluchi first tried to run across 1,033 miles of water in an inflatable hamster wheel filled with Red Bull and protein bars, he was rescued by the Coast Guard after it heard of “a disoriented man in a bubble off the coast of Miami, who was asking for directions to Bermuda.” He was picked up about 70 miles off the Florida coastline.

Not only did Baluchi’s $45,000 bubble pop during the rescue, but the Coast Guard spent $144,000 searching for his bubble and bringing him back to land.

The military communicated with Baluchi in August and September 2015 to remind him that this whole bubble thing was a terrible idea.

Fast forward to April 2016, when Baluchi announced on his website that he planned to try running across the Caribbean. Again.

“Ultra Marathon runner, Ray “Reza” Baluchi, age 44, will be attempting a life threatening journey at sea for charity!”

According to his website, Baluchi planned to spend five months in his new plastic bubble, subsisting only on “protein bars, tuna, sea water purified through a filter, Gatorade and chewing gum for sea sickness.” In addition to walking everywhere from Georgia and the Bermuda Triangle to Cuba and Haiti, Baluchi was going to “sprinkle ashes from ground zero in each ocean.”

The Coast Guard was not amused. It sent him a letter on April 15 explaining that the bubble run was too unsafe to attempt. It specifically cited the bubble’s lack of support boat and safety gear, as well as Baluchi’s strange claim that a support boat would “put the lives of others in danger.”

Baluchi ignored the Coast Guard and set out anyway.

To the surprise of no one, the Coast Guard was called to pick up the former marathon runner again. It shared the entire saga on Twitter.

The letter threatened Baluchi with prison time and a substantial fine if he disobeyed its mandate. It’s safe to assume the Coast Guard will find a way to keep Baluchi from stepping foot inside any more inflatable bubbles.