Posted on 07/19/2002 12:25:57 AM PDT by stilts
LISBON: A boat built of 160,000 wine corks has completed a 17-day voyage up one of Portugal’s most famous rivers, fulfilling a lifelong dream of its American builder. John Pollack, a one-time speechwriter for former President Bill Clinton, spent 30 years collecting corks for his project. He was delighted even though the voyage up the Douro river took twice as long as he had expected.
“This proves the idea that if you have a dream you can achieve it and you don’t have to worry about looking silly,” Pollack, 36, said.He had expected the 265-km (165-mile) trip to take a week. But Pollack and his crew of family and friends found themselves almost constantly rowing the 3,500-pound (1,600-kg) boat against headwinds on the sluggish Douro, home of the famous port wine industry.
“I think this is the only river in the world that flows uphill,” said Pollack. Apprentice Washington architect Garth Goldstein, designed the boat made of wine corks banded together into slabs and then lashed into logs with fish net and cord. They say they believe the boat to be the first built entirely of corks.
Well that explains the the irratic behavior of the previous adminisration. It's got to be tough trying to keep a clear head while drinking, er, I mean, "collecting" 160,000 bottles of wine.
County Cork.
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