June 26, 2013- One day until the One Water Story begins

I am so excited (and nervous) to begin the One Water Story. It’s been on my mind constantly, without a moment’s pause, for the last 5 months. Now, it’s so close that I can’t believe it’s all really happening. I will be sharing an expedition I’ve designed with people from all over North America over the next four months.

I hope that I’ve made my intentions clear for this project, even if my work hasn’t always been. My goal for this project has been both selfish, and philanthropic; I got into this work because I wanted to help the oceans, take away my feeling of helplessness towards the looming environmental issues we face, and engage others in acts of environmental protection, so that together we could stand for the land and places that we care about.

But it was selfish, in that I think I also wanted to prove to myself that I could take on such an enourmous project.  I wanted to show that it was possible to put together a four-month sailing program with 5 months preparation time. I think I wanted to show myself that by pulling together every resource I had, contacting every person I knew to help, working ridiculous hours and times of day and spending every moment working myself into a frenzy over whether I could make this happen, that I could in fact make it happen. I cant thank all my friends, family and business contacts enough for their incredible support in making this expedition happen. I truly couldn’t have done this without you.

Soon, strangers and friends from all over the US and Canada will be getting on a boat with me and the Pangaea crew. They will be traveling with us on an adventure of a lifetime, experiencing the ocean and lakes from a totally unique viewpoint.

Our guest crew will be participating in an absolutely unique experience, one that Pangaea Explorations has never attempted before. Our guest crew will be learning along with us, and be a part of something bigger than themselves and their daily lives. We hope that this experience will give our crew a better understanding of the world as it is, and lead the people of North America towards making changes to protect our Lakes and Oceans for the future.

I am so honored that I have the opportunity to organize this experience, and so excited that we’ll finally be able to start doing something, and stop just talking and planning for it.

What is the One Water Story’s Objective?

The objective of the One Water Story is to learn and absorb the stories of the lakes, and relate the stories to ones we have collected through Pangaea’s many adventures on the world’s Oceans.

I want to do more than just that. I want to understand more clearly how the lakes and oceans are connected, and I want to instigate positive changes to that connection. I want to illuminate the issues that these lakes face, and provide ways in which we as individuals can be proactive in our behaviors to protect these waters. I want to help create small changes that will keep both the lakes and our oceans prospering far into the future.

I want to help connect the people of the Great Lakes get a first hand view of their own waters, and show them why caring about this area is so important at a time like this. I want them to understand that without the dedicated team of people who strive every day to find solutions for the Lakes’ problems, the lakes would be in a lot worse condition than they are now.

I also want to show you, our readers and friends, how beautiful this region is, and relate it as I finally view it with my own two eyes. They say in life that the things that we love, we protect. Well, I love water, and together, I know we can all work to protect it, in all of its forms.

The crew will be writing and blogging as much as possible throughout our journey, with all of our guest crew adding their thoughts and opinions to the blog as we sail. Be sure to keep up with us regularly and find out what kind of adventures the Pangaea crew is having on board!

Here’s to sweet sailing to the Sweetwater Seas!!

-Asta Mail, Expedition Coordinator

Pangaea Explorations