Plastiki – the end of the voyage.

Due to weather conditions Plastiki has landed in Australia a bit north of their desired destination but it did give the people of Mooloolaba, Queensland the chance to see this motley crew of explorers and their unique sailing craft. They were expecting to make landfall at Coffs Harbour in New South Wales and then be escorted to Sydney from there but rough seas and the fact the Plastiki is not as manoeuvrable as your usual sailing ship, the crew decided it was more prudent to come in and seek an escort vessel sooner rather than take any unnecessary risks.

The brainchild of David de Rothschild, environmentalist, explorer and heir to the Rothschild family banking empire, Plastiki is an 18.2m (60’) catamaran engineered from approximately 12,500 reclaimed plastic and PET bottles. It set sail on the 20th of March 2010 from San Francisco, California, USA to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia to raise awareness about plastic waste in our oceans.

As it approached Australia, with strong winds from the SSE testing the boat’s innovative construction, it was the toughest conditions encountered during the voyage to date. Now after 130 days and 8,000 nautical miles at sea the Plastiki is set to come around the Heads, arriving in Sydney’s Darling Harbour at approximately 11am on Monday 26th July.

“We’re really excited to be finally heading for Sydney.” David de Rothschild said.  ”It’s been an amazing voyage seeing first-hand the impact of plastic on our oceans and visiting island communities impacted adversely by the waste we all generate. We know that Australians are deeply concerned about minimising their plastic waste – their actions to embrace reusable shopping bags and even ban plastic water bottles in some communities underscore this, but there’s much more we can all do,”

Featuring the latest in sustainable design technology, the Plastiki is a wonder of engineering and innovation and Sydneysiders will have the chance see it for themselves. Once the Plastiki arrives in Sydney, the vessel will be on public display at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour for one month.

Special events have also been organized including talks by David de Rothschild and the crew who are eager to spread the message that we need to reduce the amount of human made waste going into landfill and heading out to sea.

“It’s about recognizing that waste is fundamentally a design flaw. If we apply cyclical 'cradle-to-cradle’ philosophies rather than linear thinking we can eliminate waste at source,” David de Rothschild said.

If you want to learn more about the voyage or the issues that motivated those behind it visit http://www.theplastiki.com or if you are in Sydney, head on down to the Australian National Maritime Museum to witness what can be done with inspiration, persistence, passion and 12,500 plastic drink bottles.

David de Rothschild, the designers, builders and crew of Plastiki, you are truly legends.