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Plastic boat that takes a lot of bottle to sail
Mark Prigg, Science and Technology Editor16 Nov 2009
Explorer David de Rothschild spoke for the first time today about his mission to sail from San Francisco to Sydney in a catamaran made from plastic bottles.
His team has spent three years planning the 10,000-mile trip and hopes to set off within weeks. Their 60ft vessel, the Plastiki, is being built in San Francisco. Its frame, made of recycled plastic, will be lined with 12,500 bottles filled with carbon dioxide to help provide buoyancy.
“We want to make people think about how they use plastic,” said de Rothschild, 31. “The project is a showcase for the technology that can be created by recycling. It's sink or swim: we'll know pretty quickly if it works once it's in the water.”
The yacht has solar panels, a composting lavatory, a hydroponic garden to grow food and two exercise bicycles to power communication systems. It will first head for the Eastern Garbage Patch, a zone in the Pacific twice the size of Texas where currents have deposited plastic waste.
A UN report said the area was growing at an alarming rate. De Rothschild — who suffers sea sickness — will act as a deck hand, collect water samples and post blogs.
After the trip the Plastiki will be broken up and recycled. The team has opened a mission control sponsored by computer firm HP at the National Geographic Store in Regent Street, where the public will be able to talk to the crew.
