Have you heard of the danger huge gas bubbles erupting from the sea bottom signify to ships? Ships don't float on air. They sink. Balloons do, but I'd hate a sea landing in one of these decorative wicker baskets. Navigating in balloons seems like a lot of fun, even if one is at the mercy of the elements. Wanting to drift to Paris but ending up in the Swiss Alps must have been appealing only to very special personalities. Early balloonists didn't have satellite weather forecasts at hand. Interestingly, in the 1920s balloon pilots were recruited from the navy. Their airships carried anchors and ballast, and Zeppelins even featured ship's telegraphs and a wheel stand on their spacious aerial command bridge.
