12,000 mile voyage on a 60 foot catamaran made of 12,000 plastic bottles

Famous eco-adventurer, enviromentalist, banking fortune heir, British environmentalist, David de Rothschild, also known once for having dated Cameron Diaz, is out to prove to the world, that garbage can be recycled into something useful. He is doing this by assembling 12000 plastic bottles and engineering them into a sailboat. Now, he is set to sail in the summer of 2009 on a 12,000 mile journey from San Francisco to Australia.

How crazy can this be? and is it safe? Watch this video clip.



David de Rothschild was once linked with Cameron Diaz in 2007 when they were seen dating and going out. He is founder of Adventure Ecology, a company which aims to raise awareness of environmental issues. The project started in August 2006, when Rothschild had just returned from a trip to the Arctic and was looking for a new project.

His philosophy is simple - That everything starts from a simple question - Can it be done?

In this case, the question is "Can we build a boat made entirely out of plastic bottles?" It is this simple question that went from a dream in his head into the beginning of a new adventure.



While plastic bottles are cheap, the adventure will not be. A documentary crew will be accompanying the trip to film the adventure. One of the stop will be at the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, which is a wirling soup of plastic that is estimated to be twice the size of Texas.

Sharon Stone vacationing on Roberto Cavalli's yacht

Another way to take up yachting without spending big bucks is to have the right contacts, friends with boats who invite you to come along.

Roberto Cavalli's yacht is designed and built by Cantieri Baglietto, while Roberto Cavalli himself designed the interior. It is 41 metres long (approx. 134 feet) It has a top speed of 35 knots and has a price tag of 20 million British pounds or around US$40 million dollars. It has a crew of 4 people and can comfortably sleep eight guests. Roberto Cavelli's designs are popular among movie celebrities including Drew Barrymore, Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Aguilera, Sharon Stone, Victoria Beckham, Charlize Theron, Beyonce Knowles.....

Photo below of famous fashion designer, Roberto Cavelli

DRAMA IN THE SEAS - MASSIVE COLLISION!

CRASH!!! CRASHHHHHHH! KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM!!!!

Even in the wide ocean when there are absolutely no boats around, two powerboats manage to crash against each other at high speed. And the neat thing is that someone on the boat managed to capture the scene on video.

Luckily, no one was injured.

Think $20 million is expensive, Try $250 million!!!

Still think that Tiger Woods' $20 million yacht "Privacy" is expensive? How about Paul Allen - co-founder of Microsoft, the third richest man in the USA and - his yacht named "Octopus"....Octopus, the world's 6th largest super yacht comes with a price tag of
$250 million US
with an annual maintenance cost of US$20 million.

The yacht has many additional accessories including
2 helicopters on the top deck,
a swimming pool on deck,
a 10-man submarine which can sleep 8 for a 2 week duration,
a remote control vehicle for crawling the ocean floors,
a 63 foot tender on the transom, and many many more......


The moral is: No matter how rich you are, somebody is richer,
No matter how pretty you are, somebody is prettier,
No matter how smart you are, somebody is smarter,
No matter how young you are, somebody is younger,
No matter how many postings you have on your blog, somebody has more,
No matter how good your blogs, someone else's is better....

so just accept it, and life becomes much easier and more relaxed.

$20 million price tag for this boat? Who does it belong to?

There was lots of secrecy about this megayacht when it was being built in the year 2004. In fact, the celebrity owner successfully sued the builder Christensen Yachts for exploiting his name and image to promote the company. With the information leak, everybody knows that the hull was numbered 26 and since it is a semi-custom boat, the specifications and details are readily obtainable from a similar yacht.

Okay, enough suspense, it belongs to none other than TIGER WOODS. The man who has everything? A megayacht, a gorgeous wife, beautiful baby.....what can I say?


By megayacht standards, this is a small yacht as it has only 5 guest cabins, and is only 155 feet long. It can go 12 to 17 nautical miles an hour, carries 12,000 gallons of fuel and 2,000 gallons of water. It has a range of 4,300 nautical miles. Now do the math, how much does it cost to fuel up? and what is the annual salary for his 9-man crew?

Will you take this Boat if it's Free?

In amongst the beautiful yachts in BC, at anchor near one of the islands is this sailboat with no mast. Since it is at anchor, it's not paying any rent or moorage. Yet it seemed to be well looked after, because someone is looking after the little garden on board. There are also two deck chairs for the owner and a friend to sit and relax, look out at the mountains, the water and the boats coming by. Plus, there is a BBQ for entertaining guests. If you utake a close look, there's even Christmas lights on the plant by the bow. There's even a hanging plant basket. So, will you take this boat if it is FREE? What's the catch? It cannot go anywhere, it has no mast, and the engine is probably already dead.

Which Boat would you prefer? A quiet intimate boat trip or the megayacht experience?

Here are 5 of the top megayachts in the world. If you were one of the richest person on the planet, you can take a lot of people with you on your holiday. Someone to paint your face, paint your nails, paint your toenails, wash your hair, dry your hair, cut your hair, massage your back, bring you your drinks, shoo the poor people away, screen your phone calls, do your laundry, shop for your groceries, cook your food....... and then there are all your friends to entertain...

There would be a helicopter ready for you and your friends, so when you want to have strawberries in the tropics and there are none around, that helicopter can fly to the nearest store and buy you the special food you crave.... This is the reason why one person need a private yacht that can hold 300 or more people. Sometimes the megayacht might still not be enough, because everyone wants to have the BIGGEST BIGGEST HUMONGOUS YACHT OF ALL.

Eco-tourism in the Backwater Country of Kerala

This video clip says it all. This is not an advertisement, by the way. I was just simply charmed by an alternative type of boat, NOT MADE WITH PLASTIC, NOT MASS PRODUCED. Indigenous and made with local materials.

A different type of boating. Quiet and Intimate. If you have someone you love and who loves you back, this boat will do just fine. You do not need to have a lot of people around you, and you wouldn't want to either. The best things in life are indeed free. (I did not mean the boat as the best thing in life, I mean love. You have that, and boat or no boat, you can be happy).

What type of a Boat is this? - Guess!!!!

Angelina Jollie and Brad Pitt might like vacationing on this boat, but I cannot imagine Jennifer Lopez ever stepping foot on this boat.

Boats are amongst the early form of transportation for mankind, long before automobiles and airplanes. Different countries around the world have designed and built boats of different types for transporting goods. Here are photos of a different type of boat that's not seen in Europe or North America.

While used before in ancient times as transport barges, they are now used as vacation homes. The photos shown here has one bedroom, a veranda and a bathroom. It can accommodate two people, and comes with a driver and crew server.

Send in your guesses! Those who get it right will have their names featured.






Note: This is not an advertisement. I will tell you what the boat is in a few days. I stumbled upon this information and was fascinated with the concept.

Canada NDP Leader Jack Layton cruising Nahanni River

Some of us have more Sense than Cents,others have more Cents than Sense.
For our visitors looking for bikini holiday photos of celebrities, sorry to disappoint you, but you can look at the previous blogs for photos of Penelope Cruz, Cindy Crawford.... For this posting, we are featuring our Canadian celebrity politician, Jack Layton vacationing on a rental yacht - a canoe (definition of yacht being a pleasure watercraft).

Canadians are a little more conservative when it comes to water adventures. We do not have the deep pockets that our southerly neighbours have, no megabucks, no megayachts. Here in the photo above, our celebrity politician Jack Layton's idea of water adventure is paddling the Nahanni River (in Canada's Northwest Territories) with his wife Olivia Chow. (No jetski or any noisy watercrafts, just a quiet row with good friends enjoying the majestic wilderness).

The Nahanni River is the icon of Canadian wilderness rivers. It is situated in a mountainous landscape and flows through Canada’s deepest river canyons, past hot springs and geological features so unique that the Nahanni River was declared the first World Heritage Site by the United Nations in 1978.

Each of Nahanni canoeing and rafting expeditions include Virginia Falls, the canyons and the small and isolated First Nation community of Nahanni Butte. The trips depart from Fort Simpson and all include opportunities for hiking.

These expeditions offer plenty of opportunities for hiking, wildlife viewing, birding, .......

Penelope Cruz on her yacht "Distar Princess"

Penelope Cruz goes yachting on her yacht "Distar Princess" a 65 foot motor yacht easily handled by 2 people. This is a much more intimate type of cruising compared to 30-cabins megayachts commonly used as party yachts.

In fact, while Penelope Cruz owns this yacht, the yacht is available for charter at Euro 23,000 a week. At this rate, it comes with a captain and a crew of 2. The Distar Princess has a maximum cruising speed of 30 knots. It has 4 cabins and can sleep 6 people comfortably, or 12 people in a pinch.





So when you see Penelope Cruz aboard Distar Princess, she may in fact just be a working gal , sea-trialling her charter yacht.

How much does your yacht charter costs?

Cindy Crawford and her husband as guests of George Clooney aboard a charter luxury motor yacht. This yacht is rumoured to be the R.M. Elegant, which has 30 cabins. See photo below.


RM Elegant - One of the World's Top 100 Megayachts. Available for charter at approx. US$900,000 a week. So, how much does your yacht charter costs?

No Bikini Holiday for Oprah Winfrey on visit to Alert Bay,BC

When Oprah Winfrey went yachting as a guest on the yacht Nova Spirit, she was not into a "bikini" type of holiday. Instead, she was visitng ALERT BAY, a first nations village in British Columbia. The talk show host went to the small community on the yacht Nova Spirit owned by BC billionaire Jim Pattison. She walked through the area without security or body guards, posing for photos with fans. Namgis First Nations Chief Bill Cranmer gave the celebrity the town tour and invited her to a potlach organized by his band.



Alert Bay is located on Cormorant Island, along the BC Inside Passage. This crescent-shaped island is situated just off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island, approximately 180 miles by water from the city of Vancouver. Located on the beautiful Inside Passage of British Columbia, Alert Bay can be reached by taking a 40-minute ferry ride from Port McNeill.

Alert Bay has a population of approx.1700 people, with 1,000 First Nations residents and 700 white people. The town is very picturesque and full of history. Residents are proud of the First Nations heritage and are very friendly to visitors.

There are many reasons to visit Alert Bay. Its beautiful scenery, abundant wildlife, native culture, history, saltwater fishing..... Alert Bay is known as the "home of the killer whale" and has the tallest totem pole in BC. It also has an excellent First Nations museum containing potlach paraphernalia that were confiscated during the early 1900 in an attempt by the white settlers and the missionaries to assimilate the native Indians as they call "remove the Indian out of them". Some of the items on display are letters by Indian chiefs protesting the confiscation.

For more information on the yacht Nova Spirit, visit http://www.bluebookofboats.com/BoatModels/NovaSpirit.htm
or Alert Bay
http://bluebookofboats.com/Cruisingdestinations/AlertBay.htm

A visit to the Seattle Boat Show

This year Seattle's Boat Show held at the QWest Field is a little more subdued than usual. With the economy in turmoil, the attendance is lower. It was reported that boat sales for 2008 was down 40% compared to the previous year, and it is expected that 2009 sales to be down by another 25%. Today's newspaper headlines reported that Microsoft and Starbucks, both Seattle companies are laying off staff.

There used to be long line-ups to view the big yachts. There's hardly any line-ups this year, and what seemed to be the most popular boat on display is the Nordic Tug 26 - a small boat. - my favourite.

This Boat called the Little Toot is my favorite, easily manageable by myself.

A free shuttle bus that runs every 30 minutes takes visitors to the floating boat show at Lake Union, all at the show admission price of $10 per person. Not bad entertainment for the day. It is indeed a great chance to view many megayachts first hand, all in one day. Even if you're not a boating enthusiast, it is worth the visit simply for the entertainment value.

Martha Stewart and Her Yacht Skylands II

Most people visit boat shows for their interest in boats, but my interest goes beyond boats. I am interested mostly in the people behind the scenes. My saying goes, "Tell me what your boat is, and I will tell you what you are." If you have no boat, I can also tell you are probably a landlubber.

Anyway, Hinckley Boats, one of America's famous boatbuilders has a picnic boat on display at the 2009 Seattle Boat show at QWest Center. The boat on display is Hull no. 3 of their newest model of picnic boat. I asked the company rep Mr. Steve Keiser how Martha Stewart is doing with her Hinckley picnic boat. He told me that Martha Stewart has one of the very first picnic boats the company built, and he's been trying to get her to upgrade, to no effect. Martha loves her current boat just the way it is, and loves pattering around in her boat.

Here is a photo of the new Hinckley 37 foot picnic boat at the show. The new picnic boat has a glossy dark blue varnish hull with nice varnished interior.


Photo below shows Martha Stewart's picnic boat which she named the Skylands II at a mooring buoy in Seal Harbor, Mount Desert Island.



Here is what Martha Stewart said about her boat (excerpt from an article in Boston Globe dated August 3, 2006)

"Perhaps one of my favorites is the "picnic by boat" to an outlying island. The procedure is casual. What matters, of course, is that you have delicious food, a group of friends or family members, a navigational plan or destination, and a seaworthy vessel.

My house, which looks down over the sea and the many, many islands that beckon , came with two deepwater moorings in a small, secluded harbor. I set out on my search for the perfect boat aware of the complexities and wary of the fact that a novice had a lot to learn about the region's convoluted coastlines, lobster traps, invisible rocky outcroppings and ledges, and very unpredictable weather patterns.

I was fortunate that friends did not steer me even slightly astray, and that there are extraordinary boat makers and shipbuilders in Maine. I was invited on day trips aboard all sorts of vessels: sailboats, dinghies, and yachts. One in particular tickled me , a craft known as a picnic boat -- a traditional, sleek, fast, roomy boat at 36 feet long. Because of something called a jet drive, it can glide safely through the coastal waters -- it has no propellers to tangle in lobster-pot lines or seaweed beds.

I ordered one for delivery the following year. I was so happy, choosing the color of the hull and the upholstery for the cushions, outfitting the modest but workable galley and ordering the most important parts of the boat -- the navigational tools and electronics.
We christened the boat Skylands II and in the ensuing years have used it well and often. We've gone whale watching, antiquing in Blue Hill, and picnicking on the neighboring islands off the coast of Mount Desert Island. It takes just a few minutes to get to the boat and load on the hampers and coolers, and off we can be. "

THERE YOU GO! Now you know what Martha Stewart's yacht is!