Plastic Bottle Catamaran Crosses The Pacific Ocean

The Plastiki, a catamaran made with plastic bottles, has completed a 8,000 mile trip between San Francisco and Sydney. Captain David de Rothschild said, "The Plastiki is literally a metaphorical message in a bottle about beating waste and reducing our human fingerprints on our natural environment." The boat will go on display at the Australian National Maritime Museum for the next month.

How much did it cost to build

[ickleberry]

assuming the plastic bottles are free, how much does it cost to make a boat out of them?

Re:The Heyerdahl Connection

[Muad'Dave]

If you've never read it, the account of Thor Heyerdahl's trip [amazon.com] is a fascinating read. How little they knew about the oceans (didn't know about the zooplankton coming to the surface to feed at night [pugetsoundsealife.com], etc) and how much fortitude was required and how many hardships would be endured to make such a journey.

Sadly, I'm not too sure we know an awful lot more about the oceans now, except that we're killing them.

Dangerous reuse of plastic

[bluefoxlucid]

This type of plastic photodegrades-- it breaks down physically, not chemically, into plastic dust. Very dangerous to leave sailing around; chemical recycling is better.