The Plastiiki, a 60 foot catamaran made from thousands of recycled plastic bottles will set sail in April/May 2009 to raise awareness about plastic consumption on a brave (or foolhardy – depends who you talk to), 7,500-mile (12,000km) ocean navigation from San Francisco to Sydney. The route will pass through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch where much of the floating garbage in the ocean congregates.
The vessel will be piloted by David de Rothschild, founder of Adventure Ecology and son of a wealthy UK banking family, the Plastiiki will be travelling with a small crew and various rotating scientists on the international voyage.
Rothschild is currently getting his plastic bottle catamaran built at a San Francisco pier in the USA. The catamaran’s hull will be filled with an estimated 12,000 to 16,000 plastic bottles. They will actually be inflated with carbon dioxide to ensure their buoyancy and inflation for the journey. All clothes and panels are made from PET recycled plastic bottle material. The remainder of the materials, apart from the metal masts, are all constructed from plastic. An estimated 10% of the Plastiki will be built with new materials. Rothschild declined to comment to media sources on the cost of building the Plastiiki.
Onboard wind turbines and solar panels will charge laptop batteries and various satellite phones. The cabin shell will be the primary source for collecting rainwater, which will be filtered and stored.
The Plastiki is scheduled to set sail in April or May 2009. The trip is estimated to take 100 days. Along the way Rothschild and his crew also intend to raise public attention to the state of the world’s oceans, publishing the scientific survey they will conduct as they travel.
Visit: http://www.adventureecology.com/
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