Junk Raft Completes Voyage to Hawaii

Honolulu, US - With the hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic debris floating around in the Pacific, it would have been difficult to spot the one collection of garbage moving with a purpose. A bunch of plastic bottles, strapped together with old aluminum spars and topped with an airplane cockpit and a mast, would have barely stood out from the mass of plastic garbage in the Pacific Gyre, yet this questionable craft has carried two brave men across the Eastern Pacific, and into the history books. An elated Marcus Eriksen spoke with YachtPals just moments ago: "It's awesome! It's just starting to dawn on me what a big deal this really is!"

Nearly three months ago, Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Joel Paschal sailed out from Long Beach, California, on a boat made of 15,000 plastic bottles and a old Cessna 310 fusilage, which they appropriately named "Junk". Eriksen and Paschal took this little 2,600 mile cruise in order to bring awareness to the issue of ocean pollution. Just a short while ago, the team made land at the Ala Wai Harbor Fuel Dock on the Hawaiian island of Oahu - meeting their goal, and then some.

With a top speed of 3.2 knots, it wasn't a fast ride, and there were some serious issues, but a steady pace over the last several weeks has brought vessel and crew in to port safely. Thanks to modern communications equipment, Marcus and Joel have been sending in photos and video from sea to bring special attention to the Pacific ocean pollution and the North Pacific Gyre - a clockwise rotating mass of water roughly twice the size of the U.S., described by the team as a toilet bowl that never flushes.

On their final day at sea, Marcus reflected on the epic journey: "2,600 miles of open ocean crossed in 87 days. From our first week of sinking hopes on a sinking raft, through four hurricanes that swept under us, to the unbelievable chance meeting with Roz Savage in the middle of nowhere, we have had quite an adventure. We’ve collected 10 ocean surface samples using our marine debris trawl, managed to snatch a few large pieces of plastic debris that floated under us, and caught fish with stomachs filled with particles of plastic. Plastic is forever, and it’s everywhere."

Some may recognize Eriksen as the adventure-junky host of the Weather Channel's "Commando Weather" segments. He wrote of his arrival, "We return [...] to the world of alarm clocks, calendars, cars and shoes. Three months is enough time to forget the world you left and accept a new reality. But not everything is forgotten. I long for my friends, family and fiancée. I crave fresh veggies and exercise. In three months I wonder how I will reflect on this summer? Will there be days when I will find myself wishing to be back on JUNK, even if only for a minute? I don’t know what this experience will bring, but it is my intention to use it as a starting point for hundreds of conversations about solutions to the plastic plague. We have, in half a century, transformed 2/3rds of the ocean surface into a plastic soup. Knowing what I know, it would be immoral to do nothing."

We'll be talking more with these unique explorers soon, after they've had their warm showers and fresh veggies. Until then: Congratulations, gentlemen - You did it!

- K. Hampton for YachtPals.com

Read More about the Junk Raft:
Across the Pacific on a Pile of Garbage

Videos from the Junk Raft at Sea - Marcus Eriksen and Joel Paschal

Video from the Junk Raft on the Pacific - June 18, 2008

Joel Reports from Sea on the Junk Raft - June 26, 2008

Junk Raft Log - Beans, corn, or peas?

Go fish, come wind - Junk Raft Log July 15, 2008

Joel Sailing the Pacific on the Junk Raft - July 27, 2008

Repairs at Sea - August 6, 2008

Junk Raft Log: Plastic Sushi - August 22, 2008

PSA from JUNK: Marcus speaks about the plastic in the Gyre - a giant oceanic "toilet bowl that never flushes".