‘Junk’ raft

Energy & Sustainability
‘Junk’ raft

Art.Raft.Ap
The raft was made of 15,000 plastic bottles and a Cessna fuselage….

Tanned, dirty and hungry, two men who spent three months crossing the Pacific on a raft made of plastic bottles to raise awareness of ocean debris finally stepped onto dry land. The raft was made of 15,000 plastic bottles and a Cessna fuselage. “We made it,” hollered Marcus Eriksen to a crowd of about two dozen gathered at Ala Wai Harbor on Wednesday. “Where’s the food?” Friends greeted Eriksen and fellow eco-mariner Joel Paschal with lei, fresh food and beer to celebrate the end of their 2,600-mile voyage on what they call the JUNK raft. “We got used to eating fish and peanut butter,” said Eriksen, who celebrated his 41st birthday at sea. The pair left Long Beach, California, on June 1. Their 30-foot vessel had a deck of salvaged sailboat masts, six pontoons filled with 15,000 plastic bottles and a cabin made from the fuselage of a Cessna airplane. While at sea they realized they were only traveling half a mile per hour and it would take them much longer to reach Hawaii than the previously anticipated six weeks.

4 thoughts on “‘Junk’ raft

  1. BigD145 says:

    Best quote of that entire article:
    “One day, said Paschal, they caught a fish after watching it grow for five weeks. They were going to eat it, but when they cut it open they found its stomach was full of plastic confetti.”

    Best Maker style quote:
    “Each day the men posted online videos and blogs of their trip and kept in touch with Cummins. They also spent two to three hours a day maintaining and repairing the raft.”

  2. Chris says:

    “…who spent three months crossing the Pacific…”

    Great effort, guys, but I hate to tell you: You didn’t cross the Pacific. To do that, you have to reach either Asia or Australia. Hawaii is only about 1/3rd or the way.

    Best of luck with the rest of the trip.

    Chris

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