“Plastiki” Arrives in Australia … With A Little Help
An emotional David de Rothschild called in this afternoon from the coast of Australia, officially announcing that he and the crew of the Plastiki are safely ashore in Australia 122 days after sailing away from its dock in Marin County.
"Plastiki" Skipper Jo Royle
His emotions rode high due to the near-completion of the nearly 8,000 nautical mile voyage aboard his 60-foot catamaran built from 12,500 plastic bottles but also because it has been widely and falsely reported, according to him, that the Plastiki had to be rescued and towed to safety.
Late on Saturday, 200 miles off the port of Mooloolaba in Queensland, a few days sail north of the boat’s planned goal of Coffs Harbour in New South Wales, the Plastiki sent a distress signal, calling for a tow. According to DdR, they had always planned on a charter boat escort to help the Plastiki into port, as they had at other stops since leaving the U.S. in March. Previous stops took them to ports in Samoa and New Caledonia.
Skipper Jo Royle and de Rothschild are the first to admit that their one-of-a-kind boat is slow, not the most maneuverable craft, especially close to shore. On Saturday around 5 p.m. they were encountering a particularly strong Tasman Sea, which threatened to be too much for the boat’s small motor.
“The Plastiki’s quite a difficult boat to sail, she can’t tack she can only jibe. She’s a catamaran,” said Royle.
(For the rest of my dispatch, go to takepart.com)
Tags: Australia, Coffs Harbour, David de Rothschild, Jo Royle, Marin County, Mooloolaba, New Caledonia, New South Wales, Plastiki, Queensland, Samoa, TakePart.com, Tasman Sea
Incredible story, this has had very little publicity on the sunshine coast, a great achievement by De Rothschild and his crew, sad they didn’t get to Coffs but their loss is Mooloolaba’s gain. Hope they had a good celebration while in town.