Plastiki, A Boat Made from Plastic Bottles, Sails for Australia from California

The Plastiki is a boat made from recycled plastic bottles. It was built by a team led by David de Rothschild in order to call attention to the value of recycling. It set sail on Saturday from Sausalito, California and is heading for Australia:

The Plastiki, named in honor of Norwegian explorer Thor Hyderdahl’s raft Kon Tiki, is a boat like no other in the world. Besides the hull of recycled plastic water and soda bottles, the vessel is made of a hardened plastic called PET.

The boat is a twin-hulled catamaran rigged as a ketch. It will rely on the wind for propulsion and has only a small auxiliary engine. No such boat has ever made an ocean passage before.

The Plastiki was built on the San Francisco waterfront in 2009 and has been making trial voyages on the bay.

Link, Via: The Presurfer | Official Website | Photo: Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle, Via: Neatorama