Greta Thunberg hitches catamaran ride back to Europe with Australian family
- Teen climate activist is hoping to arrive in time for UN climate meeting in Spain in early December
- Boat owners Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu, who travel the world with their 11-month-old baby, responding to Thunberg’s request for carbon-free transport
Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg left North America on a return trip across the Atlantic on Wednesday, hitching a renewable-energy ride with an Australian family aboard their 15-metre (48-foot) catamaran.
Thunberg tweeted that the group set sail from Virginia after the family answered her urgent appeal for a ride back to Europe, where she hopes to arrive in time for the United Nations climate meeting that was moved to Madrid in early December. They left shortly before 8am. She encouraged followers to track their journey online.
Their boat, named La Vagabonde, leaves little-to-no carbon footprint, using solar panels and hydro-generators for power. It also has a toilet, unlike the boat on which she sailed from Britain to New York in August. That one had only a bucket.
“There are countless people around the world who don’t have access to a toilet,” she said about the upgrade. “It’s not that important. But it’s nice to have.”
Thunberg was speaking on Tuesday inside the tight confines of the boat’s cabin as it was docked in Hampton, near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.