8
Tube ProducTs InTernaTIonal July 2012
news
An-Tiki sets sail from St Maarten in the Caribbean
business & market
‘Ancient mariner’ returns to An-Tiki raft
An 86-year-old grandfather and a plucky
crew of over-50s have set sail from the
Caribbean, bound for the Bahamas, on
a raft made from water pipes.
They hope to raise £50,000 for the
international charity WaterAid.
As reported in
Tube Products
International
last year, writer and
explorer Anthony Smith made history
by crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the
‘An-Tiki’ raft, travelling 2,600 miles in
66 days.
Mr Smith and his three-man crew of
‘mature and intrepid gentlemen’ arrived
safely at the Caribbean island of St
Maarten, having been blown off course
from their destination, the island of
Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
Now Mr Smith, with a new band
of senior sailors, is attempting to
complete the expedition. The crew
consists of two men and two women
aged from 50 to 62: husband and wife
Leigh and Nigel Gallaher, from Boston;
Ali Porteous from Uganda; and Bruno
Sellmer from Brazil.
The voyage is expected to take around
four to five weeks to cover a further 700
miles.
11.5x6m (39x20ft) raft is made from
polyethylene water and gas pipes, with
a timber deck, 8m mast and a square
sail.
An accommodation pod provides
shelter and space for communications,
sleeping, and cooking, and electricity
is provided by four solar panels and a
wind generator, with a manual generator
as an emergency back up system.
The An-Tiki voyage is also raising
awareness and funds for the charity
WaterAid, which works with some of
the world’s poorest communities to
improve access to safe water, sanitation
and hygiene. One of the crew’s final
tasks before setting sail was to fill
five of the raft’s 18ft cross-pipes with
fresh water for drinking, cooking and
washing.
“Without food a man takes 60 days to
die. Without water he lasts a quarter
of that time. On An-Tiki we will have
ample water for our needs, yet millions
of people around the world are living
in places without an adequate supply,”
said Mr Smith.
To make a donation to WaterAid please
visit:
(UK)
anthony-smith-4/antiki (USA)
an-Tiki expedition
Wateraid
– UK
