Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 17, 1993 TAG: 9310170029
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
The 45-foot "eco-raft" that docked at Mariner's Wharf on the Pasquotank River last week comes complete with a galley, head, sleeping quarters and outboard motor.
The unconventional vessel was built from used plywood, bamboo, canvas and other materials supported on 450 used car tires stuffed with 12,000 plastic beverage bottles. All of it was retrieved from landfills.
"It's the most happening thing since Huckleberry Finn," the raft's captain, Chris Weiland, said last week.
The floating landfill has stopped at nearly every port between the captain's Key West home and here.
Weiland, 45, emigrated from his native Belize to the Florida Keys in 1986 to build his eco-raft. The raft and its journey are a project of Creative Responsible Environmental Action Through Education, a small, loosely knit organization Weiland co-founded.
Here by the Pasquotank River, like most other stops along the Intracoastal Waterway, the raft and its two-member crew have drawn a crowd. "It opens people's eyes, because we are a wasteful country," said Levin Spitzer of Elizabeth City, a student at College of the Albemarle, who stopped by the raft during its six-day stay here last week.
The eco-raft also draws Coast Guard boarding parties. But Weiland said the vessel has passed every inspection and even survived Hurricane Andrew in south Florida.
Friday, the eco-raft set sail north along the Dismal Swamp Canal. Next stop: Norfolk, where it will be hauled out and prepared for a trans-Atlantic cruise next year. Weiland's next goal is to spread his message to Europeans.
by CNB