By Ally Nobels – Guest Crew Hello from off the Northern Coast of the Dominican Republic! We are now half way to our final destination of Key West, Florida from the mesmerizing St Lucia. We’ve got a sturdy crew of eight, four men and four women, led by the latter! […]
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A passage of discovery.
By Cath Hough eXXpedition – Barbados to St Lucia The first watch team arose before sunrise to lift the anchor and set sail to St Lucia. After an adventurous first sail, a few days before the ladies were hoping for a smoother downwind passage! We were greeted with a pleasant […]
Read MoreMermaids unite for Caribbean 2017 on Sea Dragon
The arrival of the new crew on board Sea Dragon, sees eXXpedition Caribbean get underway, for their 8-day island hop through the Caribbean. 8 glorious days of science, sea, stories and sunshine. Excited conversations, inspiring stories, laughter, happiness, and anticipation filled the air as eleven strong, powerful and inspiring women came together […]
Read MoreYachting World Writes About Atlantic Adventures on Sea Dragon
Recently, Yachtmaster Ocean and Yachtmaster instructor Emily Caruso joined us on the SV Sea Dragon, and with a crew of marine scientists and environmentalists sailed from Senegal to Guyana, crossing the Atlantic Ocean. A very wise man once told me that there are two kinds of sailors: those who have been […]
Read MoreProject Ocean: Larger Than Us
We are part of a greater system – not above, beyond and outside it. If the ocean flounders, so will we. It’s environmental preservation, but self-preservation too. So go outside. Breathe the air. Taste the water. Go on a mini (or a massive) adventure. We cannot protect what we do not love and we cannot love what we do not feel connected to, so that’s my advice and that is what I am taking from Project Ocean 2015.
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Gyre to Gaia II: The island of Graciosa in the distance
We hope to find some shelter from the wind under Graciosa, where we plan to carry out our final trawls. These will give Adam a useful comparison between island and open ocean waters. Then we will sail the remaining 25 miles down the east coast of Lanzarote to Arrecife, our final destination on this trip.
Read MoreGyre to Gaia II: At sea, thinking about how we live our lives at home
At six people, we’re a rather small crew for this boat, and our four-hour shifts make me feel like a newborn baby — constantly put to bed and soon awoken abruptly, given food and drink, and thrust from my cocoon of a hammock-bed into a precarious waterworld above, strapped to the ship by a safety leash. But the crew is healthy and able, the weather’s been gorgeous, playful-seeming dolphins dance along the boat during the day, and magical-seeming bioluminescence dances along at night, and there’s no sign of human life in any direction.
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Gyre to Gaia II: Settling into the rhythm of life on board
The crew have settled well into the rhythm of life on board, with watchkeeping, rest, trawling, cooking, cleaning, and keeping Sea Dragon running smoothly. We have continued our twice daily trawls off the stern, and our scientist Adam is pleased with the results. He’s collecting enough data to keep him busy in the laboratory at Exeter University over the long winter months.
Read MoreGyre to Gaia II: Of plastic and plankton
The latest estimate of plastics afloat in our seas and oceans is put at 5.25 trillion pieces, weighing in at 250,000 tonnes. That, coupled with the fact that over 260 marine related species are known to be ingesting plastics from our oceans, and well documented evidence on the impacts of this ingestion on a wide variety of marine animals including zooplankton, makes man’s legacy a dirty one. However, it is not too late! We can change things.
Read MoreThe Ocean Cleanup: Greetings from the Azores
Nothing more shocking than feeling as if you are in the most remote part of the planet, and yet, seeing evidence of our footprint float by every day.
Read MoreThe Ocean Cleanup: Marine life sightings as we approach the Azores
After a great day of sailing and our last supper of our haute cuisine, we got – as a final touch – a little bird playing around in the last lights of the sunset. Now the sun made place again for the twilight that will slowly take us to our last ocean night with stars above us, leading the way, and lights underneath us in the water, carrying the boat back to land to Horta, Azores, Portugal.
Read MoreThe Ocean Cleanup: Underwater selfie
Today, due to the lack of wind and calm seas, we had a late afternoon swim call.
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