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They have all the vital provisions for a 70-day sea voyage.

A skateboard, rugby ball, Play-Station and skis. Most of all though, the five keen young men confirmed yesterday they had ‘‘sea legs’’and could cope with life on the ocean waves.

Lindsay ‘‘Big Rig’’ Gilbert, (32), of Southbridge, Canterbury; James Livingston (27), of Wellington; Tim Cleaver (26), of New Plymouth; Mark Wilson (26), of Queenstown, and Jamie Munro (29), of Dunedin, embarked yesterday on the trip of a lifetime.

The Dutch-owned ship Lida, skippered by Dutchman Peter Leek and crewed by five Russian and Ukrainian sailors, set sail on Otago Harbour yesterday carrying a Speight’s Ale House, the five lucky conscripts and a three-member film crew.

The ship sailed from Port Chalmers up Otago Harbour to Dunedin in the morning in calm conditions and then cruised back down to Port Chalmers, where the Ale House was to be put into the cargo hold, with rough weather forecast for today.

The ship is due to depart Port Chalmers this morning and arrive in Apia, Samoa, on August 5.

Mr Livingston said it was ‘‘great’’ to start sailing, as it meant the dream was finally becoming reality.

Mr Livingston became friends with Tim Ellingham when both were studying at the University of Canterbury in 1998. Now in London, Mr Ellingham wrote to Speight’s complaining about the absence of its beer in the British capital and suggesting the brewery break into the market there, and the idea of floating a Speight’s Ale House to London was born.

A competition found four other New Zealanders keen to join the adventure and the Ale House is due to arrive in London on October 2, Mr Gilbert’s 33rd birthday.

Along the way, the men will play rugby in Apia, deep-sea dive in the Caribbean and sail past the Statue of Liberty in New York.

The skis are owned by Mark Wilson, who intends to stay on for a European winter, the rugby ball is standard entertainment for blokes and the PlayStation is hooked into the Ale House’s entertainment system.

The skateboard is owned by Tim Cleaver, who hopes to get in a bit of boarding on the Lida’s deck.

The house will be open for drinking two hours every night of the journey, but with rough seas predicted for the first few days, it is likely only those with iron stomachs will spend extended periods at the bar.