Boards Vessel for 3-Month Atlantic Ocean Expedition

This is one clever way to avoid visiting family during the holidays -- Jean-Jacques Savin has boarded a vessel in an attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean relying only on the current and wind.

After spending months to build a barrel-shaped capsule, the 71-year-old Frenchman jumped in his vessel off the coast of El Hierro in the Canary Islands. His mission -- to cross most of the Atlantic and ultimately reach the Caribbean ... either Barbados or the French islands of Martinique or Guadeloupe.

According to reports ... Savin's gonna spend the next 3 months inside his vessel that's already 11 miles away from his origin. He's reportedly gone just 1 to 2 miles per hour since leaving Wednesday.

Savin…