Joel Paschal spent 88 days sailing from California to Hawaii. During the 2,600 mile journey, Paschal and partner, Marcus Erikson. survived four hurricanes, a food shortage and being at the complete mercy of the wind, all while aboard a boat made entirely of garbage.

More specifically the duo sailed on their self-constructed (and self-coined) JUNKraft, constructed of 15,000 plastic bottles, derelict sailboat masts, a wind turbine and an airplane fuselage, in order to raise awareness of the growing problem of plastic buildup in the world’s oceans.

Paschal, is showing his JUNKraft at the Seattle Boat Show through Feb. 1 at the Qwest Field Event Center, partnered with the Algalita Marine Research Foundation to build the raft and sail straight through the patch of ocean known in scientific circles as the “Pacific Garbage Patch.”

“It’s a problem that’s not very well known,” Paschal said. “So we decided to do a publicity stunt to bring some attention to it.”

Some stunt.

Using only sails and the wind, Paschal and Erikson began their journey 100 miles offshore of Baja, Calif., and were immediately met by three gale-force storms. The duo anchored the boat near the island of St. Nicholas to weather the storms which tore the boat apart and nearly sunk the JUNKraft before the journey had every begun.

“The boat was almost completely wrecked after only 10 days,” Paschal said. “We decided to rebuild it at sea on anchor. The whole thing put us a month behind schedule.”

The delay also meant that Paschal and Erikson consumed more food than had been planned. That meant the duo had to spend the next month eating half-rations.

“That was the largest problem we faced,” Paschal said. “It can really start to eat at you mentally.”

By an odd coincidence, the JUNKraft met up with Roz Savage, a professional adventurer who was rowing solo from California to Hawaii. It was a mutually beneficial meeting; Savage passed on food to Paschal and Erikson, and the JUNKraft crew gave much-needed water to Savage.

“She was going to run out of water 100 miles out of Honolulu, which could have been fatal,” Paschal said. “It was just incredible, coming across this girl in a rowboat in the middle of the ocean. And we were just two guys floating on a pile of junk.”

To pass time on the boat Paschal and Erikson divided their time into shifts; Paschal would be on watch from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., sleep until noon, then go back on shift until 4 p.m., followed by a four-hour break.

“During your free time you took care of personal hygiene and cooked meals,” he said. “It was a real course in time management.”

The trip gave both adventurers a sense of amazement in the beauty of the ocean, as well as a respect for the weather in the Pacific. The JUNKraft averaged about three knots, which moved the boat about 75 miles a day. A lack of wind meant that the boat went only .5 knots for an entire month.

“Your level of observation changes when you are out there and you realize all the little things you miss from society,” Paschal said. “You realize when you are out there how powerful it all is.”

On the 88th day, Paschal and Erikson arrived in the harbor at Honolulu, where Paschal’s friends met the pair in his sailboat. After many nights spent celebrating their journey, the two quickly got to work on promoting awareness for their cause.

Paschal will point out to visitors at the boat show just how bad plastic in the ocean is for the environment, noting there is no feasible way to clean it up, likening it to “mowing all of Africa with a fleet of lawnmowers.”

“Every piece of plastic in the marine environment is essentially there forever,” he said. “What we’re focusing on is education and legislative changes.”

Paschal will display his JUNKraft from noon-8 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and noon-1 p.m. on Friday.

The boat show runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday at the Qwest Field Event Center. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 11-17. Kids 10 and under get in free.

Joel Willits can be reached at 425-453-5045 or at jwillits@bellevuereporter.com.

For more on Paschal’s and Erikson’s journey, and for blogs and videos of the trip, visit www.junkraft.com.