Plastiki Rigging to Cross the Pacific

David de Rothschild's Plastiki (Image via gCaptain.com)

Typhoons. Hurricanes. Cyclones. Tidal waves. Sharks. As if designing a boat to cope with all of that on the 11,000-mile voyage from San Francisco to Sydney isn’t daunting enough, this one also has to be environmentally irreproachable.

That’s the point of “The Plastiki,” which is due to set sail next month after three years of planning, research and construction. The aim of the voyage is to raise awareness of global waste and, to practice what it preaches, the 60-foot, or 18-meter, boat has been made from some 13,000 recycled plastic water bottles.

“Crossing the Pacific on a boat you’ve built yourself is no mean feat, taking a purist approach makes it even more challenging,” said David de Rothschild, the British environmentalist who is leading the project. “Typically boats are designed from the most innovative materials to be as tough as possible, but we’re using trash. At times it has felt like we’ve been working in a black hole with nothing to refer to but our last mistake or success. Incredibly challenging.”

The much anticipated adventure of the "Eco Hunk" and the Eco-Boat is at last at hand, or so we are informed. Although it's a year later than expected, this modern day garbage scow will venture off into the blue to show us the Eastern Garbage Patch and other environmental devastation. Follow the journey of The Plastiki and decide for yourself, is David de Rothschild the new face of global environmentalism?