Czech plastic bottle crew “abandons ship” in face of German red tape
Earlier this month, a group of Czech adventurers set out on a 900-km journey to the German port of Hamburg, peddling down the Elbe River on a boat made of plastic bottles. But their voyage has come to an early end as Germany’s river traffic rules made it impossible for them to continue. The group now wants to complete their trip on dry land.
After seven days, the unusual vessel, named Petburg, reached Děčín, the last Czech port on the way to Germany. But there the crew learned that sailing into Germany would not be as smooth, says one of the boat’s captains, Jan Kára.
“You need to have a certified small vessel operator, you need an engine on the boat to be able to steer clear of big boats, and so on.
“We can normally handle this by peddling but these were the conditions the German authorities set for us. But these issues only came to light here in Děčín.”
“As we haven’t been to meet all the conditions, we decided to complete the journey in a different way. We are leaving the boat moored in Děčín.
“We will now finish the journey on old bikes that will be decorated with plastic bottles. When we come back, we’ll have the boat taken back to Nymburk.”
The voyage has attracted a lot of attention in the Czech Republic, both in the media and on the banks of the Elbe River. The sailors say people would sometimes give them food, and some asked for a ride. Many onlookers also gave them messages to take with them to Hamburg.
“The first seven days were great, living on the boat and so on. But we got quite annoyed when we got stuck here. It will be different now when we go by bike but I think I’ll be glad for all of this after all.
“It has been a huge project we spent eight months on. It’s a pity we won’t make it there on our boat but the important thing is whether we have inspired others and whether it enriched us. And I believe this is in fact more valuable than if everything had gone as planned.”
