Ice cream stick ship set to sail

LELYSTAD, Netherlands, July 16 (UPI) -- A Viking sailing ship, made in the Netherlands from 5 million recycled ice cream sticks with the help of 5,000 school children, is ready for the high seas.

The full-size Viking ship replica "Thor" has had a shakedown cruise on a lake and shipbuilder Robert McDonald says he wants to cross the Atlantic Ocean this fall, setting sail from the port city of Lelystad, ITV.com reports.

"It's to show kids you can do anything," said McDonald, who spent four years on the ice cream stick ship project. "It's not what the doctor tells you, or the nurse tells you, it's what you tell yourself. I'm out to show that."

McDonald has overcome a lot himself. When he was nine, his parents and six siblings died in a gas explosion and he spent five years recovering from his injuries.

"I'm not disabled, look what I've done, look what we have done, look what the kids can do," McDonald told the BBC. "It's not only a ship of ice-cream sticks, it's also the world's largest recycled object."