29 Jun 2009

Plastic bottle boat already raising environmental awareness before Pacific voyage

10:20 am on 29 June 2009

The newly-announced skipper of a expedition sailing a boat made out of plastic bottles across the Pacific says it has already become a platform to raise awareness about environmental issues.

The Plastiki will sail 12,000 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney in a boat made out of plastic bottles and recycled waste products.

The boat's skipper, Jo Royle an accomplished ocean racer, says the ambition is to set sail before Christmas.

"Every day we get more and more people contacting us, about the Plastiki and it's formed an incredible platform for people to come together and collaborate and to share this interest if raising the awareness of out of sight, and out of mind issues that are facing our planet actually every day."

Currently, the hope is that the boat will sail from San Francisco, stopping in Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, before berthing in Sydney.