David de Rothschild: Voyage of the Plastiki Building the World’s Most Unlikely Boat

Text by Thayer Walker; Boat rendering and photograph courtesy of Adventure Ecology

Last October, we brought you the story of David de Rothschild, the British explorer who plans to sail 11,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney in a 60-foot catamaran made of used two-liter plastic bottles and other recyclable materials. Readers responded vigorously (read their comments).

Without stepping off of dry ground, de Rothschild and his team have already faced a host of challenges, but now comes the hard part: building, and then sailing, the Plastiki. Departure date is set for the end of April, so over the next several weeks we will take you behind the scenes where, in a vast and otherwise empty pier overlooking San Francisco Bay, one of the world’s most unlikely boats is taking shape. See a photo gallery of the Pier 31 workshop >>

The Plan 

Plastiki

Plastiki

Plastiki

Plastiki

Smart Competition

David de Rothschild, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and founder of Adventure Ecology, will depart in Spring 2009 on a 11,000-mile voyage from San Francisco to Sydney (see the route map) in a boat made of plastic bottles. Find out more about the expedition in a feature article by Contributing Editor Paul Kvinta ("Voyage of the Plastiki," October 2008 issue of ADVENTURE). Check in here for updates.