Some Facts about the Plastiki

Some Facts about the Plastiki

Some Facts about the Plastiki

In a week or two, the most anticipated docking of the world's first plastic boat is to happen in Sydney, Australia. This is after a plastic bottle composed catamaran has left San Francisco, California for an unknown time of voyage to the country down under. This was not a voyage similar to that made by Jessica Watson when she circumnavigate from Australia and back only to get the attention of Guinness World Records and had her name penned to its most coveted awards. This voyage that commenced March 20, 2010 sailed with a cause of bringing awareness to the world about how plastic bottles and its similar products can affect the environment.

The Conception and Birth

The UNEP report titled Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Deep Waters and High Seas' was what moved David de Rothschild while on his workwear uniform to conceptualize the Plastiki. The UNEP report pointed out an alarming announcement that the world's ocean is in the brink of destruction due to presence of pollution specifically the plastic wastes. In Plastiki's website, aside from a monitor of the current position of the catamaran, they also put an adjacent counter that shows the number of plastic bottles being used and disposed in US alone and the numbers were pegged into 6 digits now. After, Rothschild finalized his idea he invited a pool of experts who he can consult on issues of engineering and sailing.

The name Plastiki was inspired by the 1947 raft experimental expedition known as the Kon-Tiki. While Plastiki's expedition is for a cause, the Kon-Tiki was set to sail to prove that Polynesian settlement by South American explorers is probable. The Kon-Tiki was made out of balsa husks and used the trade winds to sail from Peru.

The Catamaran : Plastiki

What made the Plastiki so unique from other voyages and man-and-sea feat is first its objective and its good cause. Another distinct characteristic of the Plastiki that sets itself out among others is the design and the materials that have been used in the production of the vessel. In the initial design of concept architect Michael Pawlyn, the Plastiki is just a very simple boat with two rafts on its side and can be powered and pulled by a kite sail. Because the kite sail is big and heavy, the designers settled on making a full functioning yacht with "trimmable" sails thus the final design of the catamaran.

The Plastiki is made up of 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles, some yards of wood, and reclaimed used PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) or also known as polyester. The 12,500 used plastic bottles where carefully and tightly secured in the two hulls of the catamaran. The plastic bottles are the main buoyancy device that makes the Plastiki float. The sail, cabin cover, cabin reinforcements are made of recycled polyester resins. Remember that polyesters are found in our clothes and workwear uniforms. Polyesters are synthetically produced textiles that similar to plastic will take time to decay naturally. To reinforce the connections in the hull and in the cabin the designers made use of strong steel. The vessel is also equipped with GPS and homing devices, complete kitchen accessories, solar panels and batteries, a vertical garden, and a Human Dynamo bike.

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