Ocean Watch - the big adventure-with-a-mission starts

8:45 PM Mon 8 Jun 2009 GMT

'Ocean Watch on her way' .

Ocean Watch, the Sailors for the Sea's Bruce Roberts sailing boat, long in preparation, has left on its voyage to circumnavigate the Americas. See previous Sail-World story.

The steel cutter-rigged sailboat is on a one-of-kind mission to raise ocean awareness and spread environmental activism across two continents and departed Seattle last week, right on schedule.

The 64-foot sailboat plans to take 13 months to complete its 24,000 nautical mile voyage, circumnavigating the North and South American continents, a journey that would not have been possible before the phenomenon of Global Warming.

The yacht will make its first stop Juneau, and then go on to stop in three more Alaska ports, Dutch Harbor, Nome and Barrow. In its journey, it will visit 11 countries and make 31 port stops, if all goes to schedule.

Everywhere they go, they will find people who are sympathetic to their cause. 'I think it's critically important that people become more aware of ocean conditions, because the world's oceans are at serious risk,' Juneau resident and port call organiser Theresa Svancara told local news outlet Juneau Empire.

One of the issues that Sailors for the Sea and the expedition is wanting to draw attention to is ocean acidification. Currently it's a little known problem, except to the scientific world, but could be - or maybe already is - devastating to ocean life.

'It's actually quite frightening what ocean acidification could do,' Svancara said. 'I think, very soon, it will become just as well known as global warming is.'

Around the Americas - Ports of Call - .. .

Research:

More than 40 organizations and more than 30 individuals have either contributed to the expedition's cause or joined the expedition in hopes of educating North and South Americans on the changing conditions and threats to their ocean environment and mobilizing them to take action to improve ocean health.

Also, 10 scientists from six institutions have an array of instruments on board to collect data sets throughout the voyage. Research conducted on the ship ranges from polar science and weather to jellyfish populations and the reflection of solar energy. Brief descriptions of these projects and updates will be provided throughout the voyage on their Web site.

Cutter and crew:

The cutter, designed by Bruce Roberts, has been outfitted and laid out for extensive long-range voyaging and expedition-style sailing.

Ocean Watch will travel through the Northwest Passage to the East Coast, down the East Coast in the Atlantic, around the southern tip of South America and back up to Seattle.

The ship is manned by captain and project director Mark Schrader, a marine conservationist and wildlife advocate, who has sailed solo around the world twice. David Logan is his first mate and photographer David Thoreson and Herb McCormick are watch captains.

At any given time, the ship will be manned with about eight people - four permanent crew and four rotating slots: one scientist, one educator and two VIP or media representatives. Now on its way to Juneau, the ship carries the four permanent crew members, one scientist and two support crew, a boatbuilder and his assistant.

Dave Rockefeller Jr., director and former chairman of Rockefeller & Co. Inc., has spearheaded the voyage. He is an active participant in the nonprofit arena, especially in the areas of environment, the arts, public education and philanthropy. He is vice chair of the National Park Foundation and former national vice chair of the Alaska Conservation Foundation. Among other accomplishments, he also co-founded Sailors for the Sea.

The crew are already writing about their experiences, which make fascinating reading. Herb McCormick writes about Campbell River, British Columbia. He said for him, the trip has already been 'an eye-opening experience.'

'Back East, we don't see tidal ranges in the double digits very often, nor currents that can speed along at equally impressive numbers,' he writes. 'You learn quickly here in the Pacific Northwest's countless straits and narrows that ebbs and floods dictate schedules and progress, and that the will of man is just so much folly and folderol. ...

'We're still all in shorts and T-shirts,' he goes on. 'We saw our first pair of bald eagles, which I found breathtaking. We also crossed the 50th parallel, and on that score, despite the chutes and ladders, it's clear that we're still making tracks for Alaska.'

The Ocean Watch is scheduled to return to Seattle on June 20, 2010, and Sail-World will be following their journey.

Footnote: Ocean Watch, the name of Sailors for the Sea's yacht, is not to be confused with OceansWatch, another environmental organisation which carries out research, mostly in the South Pacific on coral reefs and assists local communities to preserve their marine heritage.

by Nancy Knudsen