Sounding the alarm on the Rainbow Warrior
Here's another blog from Dr. Uygar Ozesmi -Executive Director of Greenpeace Mediterranean
After the day of action the Rainbow Warrior woke up from the night stretching her limbs to get ready for the new journey to Turkey. A hearty breakfast to ones liking and a freshly brewed coffee was all we needed to get our brooms and mops to clean out the place and pick up every bit of dust and dirt. Clean and tidy we lifted the anchor and got out of the harbor.
A small navy gun boat made a circle around us for five minutes as we took course. Then it made a sharp turn and disappeared back into the harbour. It looked like a curious crow which lost interest quickly.
I began talking to the photographer on board, a french fellow, Pierre is the name and I discovered he had more than two decades under his arm following Greenpeace actions around the world. The ship is full of able and dedicated souls, all an ocean in themselves.
Looking out the horizon the alarms suddenly rang in a shrill sound for a fire drill... crew rushed to the muster stations - some rubbing their eyes from last night's watch. We got a full briefing on the fire teams and procedure together with man over board rules. Luckily the drill was announced on the notice board so we knew that it was training. Already the first day of the journey the campaign team had a series of important meetings to get ready for Turkey. The growl in my stomach announced that it was time for lunch...
Our cook was laying in bed for he was ill, but our two Israeli volunteers went into the kitchen and produced a miracle; tasty basil and mozzarella sandwiches with pesto, and a fantastic spicy cauliflower, coconut and cashew sauce on rice... and a salad of course as always. The crew needs a lot of calories for their hard work, but for a not so hard working office person like me, I am afraid with the tasty food I will step off the ship with a couple kilos extra, if not careful. After lunch I went on the back deck to have my tea and look to the horizon. I was getting dizzy on the ship after looking into the computer screen for a few hours. Sitting here I got my internal balances sorted out. I thought I never would get seasick having gone through many voyages in the sea, but I had never sat in front of a computer during other journeys.
There was Louis our Chief Engineer on deck, for a break away from the engine room, swaying with the waves in his hammock taking a sun bath after a cold shower. We had an interesting chat about the waste water system of the Rainbow Warrior. We have limited fresh water so we have to be careful to save water and not take long showers, luckily the toilets flush saltwater. The toilet water gets special aerobic decomposition treatment and after getting cleaned mixes with the other "gray" water from showers and wash basins. After one final treatment which includes UV light surrounding the pipe all the bacteria is killed before it gets discharged. It is a good feeling to know that we take the best precautions on the ship and don't only recycle...
What another drill?... This time the fire alarm sounded, again I was there on deck and did not have to run up stairs. Pep our First Mate was there to inform that it was a false alarm. Our cooks were busy preparing food now for dinner, the smoke from the cooking had set off the alarm. Better be prepared than sorry, better a false alarm then the real one!
Whenever on deck looking to the right I found myself concerned about the coast of Israel. Now I felt an alarm ringing deep inside my heart. There is an endless line of white and high buildings. Not only sucking up energy from coal which kills the climate and our future, but also destroying the coast. Is there a stretch of coast that has not been appropriated by people in the Eastern Mediterranean. We left no space for nature, we think all is ours and while taking more and more from nature we are taking more and more from ourselves...
I will be on watch duty tonight from midnight to 4 am in the morning. Watching a ship is rather uncomplicated, I'll do my duty and sleep some more tomorrow. But what we really need to watch is the planet itself. She is a ship in an endless ocean of space. Right now she needs a lot more than people watching it, she needs people to act! Act Now! Quit Coal!
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