It's a wrap and it's not a seafood one...

Goodbye from the crew

So the tour is coming to an end, though as I have mentioned previously, it is only the beginning of our campaign to save the oceans. We have achieved a great deal and there is a great deal more to do. The work at sea continues with the "Beluga II" defending the Greenpeace marine reserves in the Baltic Sea . For last minute goodies, I've created a couple of screensavers and even more wallpapers using the fabulous images taken during this tour.

For someone who has never spent more than a day on a ship, I now understand why people are so drawn to live and work on the sea and why we need to protect it. Witnessing the massive amounts of life destroyed by a few hours of bottom trawling was one of the most memorable and sad experiences of the tour - safe to say I will never eat trawled plaice again. The images of this bycatch so carefully laid out in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, exposing this issue to the public was one of the most gratifying moments.

The sea really does have a life of its own. With such massive forces of nature, I can see why there is so much superstition in the world of sailing - though I would like to think that we proved that having women on ships is far from bad luck. At least half the crew on the Esperanza are female and many would say that the men on board were actually quite lucky!

Living on the Esperanza has been an unpredictable and unique experience and I feel exceptionally lucky to have been given the opportunity. Many of my fellow crew members like Martha - deckhand and activist from Spain - are volunteers. Others, like German campaigner Thilo, have left their small children and loved ones for weeks/months at a time. These fantastic people come from around the world with such different lives, skills and experiences, joining together for the same purpose - to make a difference. As the lovely Dutch activist/engineer Ramon said "together we are stronger".

The Esperanza will soon be heading out to the North Atlantic for the Sea Mounts tour, continuing the Greenpeace oceans campaign. Many of the crew have been onboard for three months and will be heading home for a well deserved break while new crew join and the journey goes on. It's been a privilege to have been onboard and a pleasure to convey our story to the world - I hope the world has enjoyed the trip! A big thank you to those who have followed the story and supported our call for marine reserves - keep visiting the www.defendingoceans.com website to keep up to date with the latest developments.

- Elaine

4 comments

Facts - in the name of cod

Bycatch cod from the Viking Bank

So the Viking Bank area that we've been spending a lot of our time in is a major cod fishery, and we've had the cod jokes on a roll since the beginning of the campaign. A friend lent me a book that I have since discovered to be the cod bible: "Cod - A biography of the fish that changed the world" by Mark Kurlansky. It describes the amazing history of the fish and its incredible influence over the history of the modern western civilisation. Considering we're trying to save the last of the cod in the North Sea, I thought it was a good idea to bring some of the facts about cod, they're way more interesting than fish fingers...

- Cod produce a natural anti-freeze that allows them to cruise the icy northern oceans.
- Cod are omnivorous, swimming with their mouths open they will eat anything that fits, including young cod!
- Cod flesh is white, whiter than most other fish because its muscle tissue is not built for speed, but for quick action to catch prey. For this reason cod are usually unable to out-run trawlers.
- For a long time - particularly in England, the word fish was synonymous with cod.
- Cod are believed to have existed as the species we know today for about 120 million years.
- In New England cod is referred to as the "sacred cod". Folk lore suggests that it was the fish Jesus used to feed the 5,000 but more likely to be because of its value to the local economy.
- In the UK most cod are caught in Scotland but eaten in England - the Scots prefer haddock!
- A female cod about a metre long can produce 3 million eggs in a spawning.
- A cod surviving to a year old has virtually no predators from then onwards, other than man.

Hmm, that's just the beard on the cod's chin. They are surprisingly interesting fish - really!

On an interesting tangent, there's an online auction of some pretty classy customised boogie boards, designed by a range of artists to help support the Greenpeace Defending Oceans campaign. Boogie boards, art for the oceans, I like it!

- Elaine

3 comments

Lovely Lerwick!

Visitors onboard in Lerwick

Monday morning in Lerwick and there's the sound of mops being slopped about the alleyways. We're due to depart at 11am after a weekend of open days and Shetland culture! The open days have given us a chance to meet and chat with some local (and not so local) people about our campaign - there's been a steady stream of visitors over the two days. We've enjoyed our visit to this friendly town. Many of us have managed with local help to get out and about to see the stunning landscape - and have our picture taken with shetland ponies, which is important to me if no one else!

Open days tend to attract an interesting cross section of the community and we had some colourful characters onboard, including a large group of RAF gentlemen in their full regalia. Our campaigners explained our demands for large-scale marine reserves in the North Sea and what it would mean to communities like Lerwick. Visitors were then taken around the ship by our proud crew members, who have made it their home after living onboard for three months at a time.

Much of the weekend I spent in the galley, giving our cook a chance to see the Shetlands while I prepared Saturday night's curry and Sunday's lunch. Making the most of having the galley at my disposal I made batches of cookies, soul food for our guides and campaigners as well as the odd visitor who timed it just right!

It was interesting to hear on Sunday that the UK government announced a proposal to instate marine reserves. The details are extremely vague, but at least the right people are starting to realise that this is an important issue. Our campaigners both on the boat and back on land have been doing a lot of talking and meeting lately, and as the tour nears its end, the campaign is still in its infancy.

-Elaine

1 comments

Life on board...

Click to view slideshow "Life on board the Esperanza"

Blue skies and a strong breeze as we head into Lerwick Harbour. Saturday and Sunday will be open ship for the local Shetland Islanders so they can come aboard and see the workings of the Esperanza and chat to some of her crew. I've put together a slideshow with a peek of life onboard the Esperanza, in case Lerwick is too far for you to get to this weekend. The weather has been harsh and we've been literally bouncing about the Viking Bank since we left Aberdeen on Tuesday.
8 comments

Northern light

Maaike on the bridge

Hi, I'm Maaike, third mate on the Esperanza. After another good dinner (the cook is absolutely fantastic) I’m sitting in the lounge with my cup of tea. I like this hour of the day. People are around to chat, it's still early and we're all happy - the workday is over and we're well fed and relaxed.

At 7.45 I go up to my cabin to get my stuff together. My watch is from eight to 12 and it’s getting colder outside. The door from the wheelhouse is always open so the temperature on the bridge is getting lower as well, which I don’t mind - I like that chilly windy weather.

Yesterday at the end of my watch I saw a strange kind of light in the sky. It was a new moon, so it couldn’t be the moonlight. After a while I thought about the northern lights. I’ve seen it before in these regions, but it surprises me still. After looking at the light for 15 minutes I was sure it was the northern light. It didn’t become spectacular, but it was very beautiful. I don’t know for how long it went on, because after watching it until 12.30 I thought it was time to go to bed.

Tonight, when I arrive on the bridge, Madeline the first mate is putting the eight o’clock position in the chart. Then she hands over the watch to me. The wind is still a force seven. The weather forecast on the navtex (a cunning little machine that prints weather forecasts and navigational warnings every few hours) says it will pick up over the night again. Let’s hope for better weather after that, because it’s almost impossible to do anything (action wise) in a force seven/eight.

When the watch is handed over it’s getting nice and quiet on the bridge. Just me and Martha, the watch keeper. She’s from Spain and is very good company on the bridge. We listen to some Spanish music and now and then people come up to the bridge to see what's happening and chat for a while. I really enjoy that. The sky is very clear again, which seems strange when it’s stormy - but it gives a nice effect. With a brighter sky, the white horses (tops of the waves) are visible in the dark. Spooky, but beautiful.

My watch is coming to an end. Some oil rigs - which you can see from about 15 miles away, light up the sky with their huge gas burning flames but no northern light. Maybe we’ll have some more later on - after all, it’s still early September. We’ll have a lot more long, dark evenings to come with a chance to see more of the beautiful lights.

- Maaike

1 comments

Holly mackerel - healthy fish stocks...

Norwegian coast guard watching over the mackerel

It's early autumn and the annual mackerel swarms are travelling from the north east Atlantic along the Norwegian Trench into the central North Sea over winter. There's a whole range of whale species following the countless mackerel, feeding on them to thicken their warming blubber layer for the cold winter times. At this time the Scandinavian mackerel fleet catch within their alloted three weeks the best part of their annual landings.

We come across the mackerel fleet east of our Viking Bank Marine Reserve and observe this Scandinavian "fishing frenzy". Altogether 26 fishing vessels from Denmark, Sweden and Norway are counted. All of them are using the purse seining fishing method to catch as much as they can in the shortest possible period of time.

Among the fleet is a coast guard vessel with fisheries inspectors to enforce the restrictive fishing rules set up by the Norwegian government. The rules state that every fishing vessel gets a certain quota, is not allowed to discard any by-catch and must allow fisheries inspectors on board at any time of the fishing operation.

This mackerel stock is in a comparably good condition and since the fishing occurs in mid water within dense swarms, there is hardly any recorded by-catch. In the German Greenpeace consumer guide, mackerel can be found in the "acceptable to eat" category for the following reasons: the fishing method is ok, the stock of the target species is in a good state and the fisheries management is strict and reliable.

- Thilo

2 comments

The silver city

Mad, our first mate, hanging about in Aberdeen.

Aberdeen harbour - blue skies and sunshine. Certainly a contrast to my first visit here, the fog then was so thick you could barely see the water's edge. We've spent two nights in the silver city, built of granite and sparkling in the fog. Unfortunately (or not) there was no fog, and the buildings appeared a shade of grey, though welcoming and a relief for those of us who are natural land lubbers.

I was lucky enough to stay with my lovely relatives in a real bed in a real house with a real dog for the first time in six weeks. This taste of normality has certainly revitalised me and the crew seem to be invigorated from their time ashore too. Already missing those who have headed home, we're welcoming our new team members to the Esperanza. This is the last leg of our tour, two more weeks on the North Sea defending our marine reserves and spreading our message.

We've been talking to the fishermen trawling within the marine reserve areas, discussing our ideas and demands. This campaign has only just begun, but the news is definitely getting out there. People are talking and that is what it's all about - highlighting the issue - making it into something that the public and the decision makers realise is of vital importance and something that needs action NOW.

The engines are gently rumbling and Chris - our pivotal entertainment officer (amongst his many other jobs) is on the dockside, removing the last mooring rope and waving goodbye, promising to write one more weblog on the way home - we'll miss you Chris! The sky is now dark with clouds as we move slowly out of the harbour - the rain is falling and the wind-chill factor makes itself known. The silver city is now sparkling, though it's through a layer of dampness!

- Elaine

1 comments

Map making on a roll...

Click here to view new map

You would think that with two months on the North Sea there would be a lot of free time for a web editor - reading books, drinking tea and chilling out... Ah, not so in the radio room of the Esperanza - the centre of my daily universe. The laptop's on the side table and I'm on the lounge/bench/sofa in front of it surrounded by chocolate wrappers. Yes indeed, not just the consuming of chocolate goes on here, and today I've been working on a flash map of the North Sea Marine Reserves for your viewing pleasure.

The map shows some of the key data that was taken into account when deciding which specific areas of the North (and Baltic) Seas should be made into marine reserves. Greenpeace has produced a printed version of the set of maps, so that people can clearly see the factors that lay behind deciding which areas should be completley protected. These reports have been sent out to people like politicians, marine scientists and fisheries groups around Europe and we've also included them in the information packs being given out to the fishing vessels that we meet on the North Sea.

The flash map contains an overlay of our proposed marine reserves. Then there are also seven additional 'layers' of maps for each area illustrating the environmental and human usage factors that were important in deciding the boundaries of the marine reserves.

Iris - campaigner from the German office helped develop the marine reserve boundaries and she gave me electronic versions of these maps while she was onboard the Esperanza in August. I've taken the North Sea maps and redrawn them in flash - creating an interactive version for the internet - click here to check it out. I've created quite a few interactive maps in the past, though never while on a constant roll... rock and roll map making on the North Sea!

- Elaine

4 comments

Galley stories

Daniel in the galley

Undeniably everyone's favourite person on board would have to be the cook. We are blessed on the Esperanza with the presence of Daniel. Arriving from Mexico only days before we left Amsterdam, he is our "God of the galley". And before you ask, there is a distinct lack of tacos, tortillas and burritos.

Working tirelessly, dealing with a variety of diets, tastes and weather conditions, Daniel manages, with the help of the cook's assistant - currently Chris - to whip up magnificent meals twice a day for 36 people. Some weeks - if the crew are kind and take over the galley (kitchen) - he might get Sunday off.

Daniel was a volunteer in the Mexico office when the Arctic Sunrise was heading to Veracruz a year ago. The team pushed to get him on board and he sailed through Mexico, Brasil, Argentina and Chile on a variety of campaigns, working as a cook assistant, cook and activist.

Staying on in Chile for a month, Daniel worked on research and documentation for their new GMO campaign. Being a trained chef and involved in community development this campaign is something Daniel is particularly passionate about. Approximately 70% of the maize (corn) being consumed in Mexico is subsidised GM imported from the USA at very low prices (dumping), which drives the Mexican agriculture people to the ground and destroys the livelihood of traditional communities.

Maize is the staple diet of Mexicans. Most of the maize now grown in Mexico has been contaminated with the GM breeds, rendering the local strains infertile and ending the traditional method of saving seed for next season. Farmers cannot afford to buy the seed, fertilisers and insecticides required to grow GM maize and can't get a price on the market to make it worthwhile.

The impacts of this industry in Mexicans are devastating. The farmers feel completely alone about it and the government seems to turn its back to them -ignoring the Cartagena Protocol and opening (officially) GM maize importation from the US.

He is a strong believer in organic farming and I get the feeling when Daniel talks about this subject, he will do something about it. He intends to return to Mexico and study anthropology, organic agriculture and sustainable forestry and to use his skills and dedication to help the communities of Mexico build a better future.

He has big plans, but right now he has to feed the hungry crew of the Esperanza and it's just gone six - the smell of garlic permeates the air as dinner is served up in the mess and rest assured, it's going to be good! So if you want to be the most popular person on the ship, be the cook and be really good at it!

- Elaine

4 comments

Following the bycatch

Bycatch outside the Brandenburg Gate

Hi Thilo again, updating you on some of the land based actions we have done for this campaign. In the second week of August the Esperanza crew reported a contact they had with a Belgian fisherman at the Dogger Bank region to us landlubbers in Hamburg. It took us a while to find out that they also got the bycatch from two hours trawling from the same fisherman. This so called bycatch is the left overs after the marketable fish has been taken out from a haul. It is treated as waste - in this case 11,000 dead animals that would have been thrown over board dead or dying.

On August 18, we presented this bycatch to the public in Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate - one of the most famous places in Germany. The marine creatures were shown on a 100 metre long table and the public reaction was simply amazing. Every single visitor passing the table wanted to hear where it was from and what the background story was. We explained in German, English, Italian, Spanish, Greek and sometimes with hand and feet what this was all about: the reality of fishing in the North Sea! Our call for other fishing methods and large marine reserves is supported by the many people signing our petition.

The story made it big time in the media and we received many phone calls in the following days from interested people and politicians. Two days later we did the same activity in Copenhagen at the city hall - with the same public reaction. Also Munich's Marinenplatz was visited some days later and the campaign message made it to the southern part of Germany.

- Thilo

2 comments

And all before morning tea...

Scottish stern trawler off the Shetlands

Finished mopping out the mess by 8.30 am (we have a volunteer roster of 8am cleaning duties) and about to head up to the bridge to check out what was going on when Sarah, our lead campaigner, asks if I want to go out on the rigid inflatable boat (RIB) to visit a Scottish stern trawler, working within our Viking Bank Marine Reserve. We are going out to see if we can give them some information about our campaign and if possible, get permission to come onboard to discuss our proposals.

The waves are up, as the African Queen - our biggest and most powerful inflatable - is lowered into the water. Now an old hand with my one previous trip on an inflatable, I head down to the wetroom and pull on my waterproof boat suit, rubber boots and lifejacket.

Soon we're heading off, bouncing through the mountains and valleys of salty water. Sarah and I have chosen the wrong side to ride - the sea is hurling buckets of wetness at us, testing just how waterproof these gorgeous red outfits really are.

We come alongside the trawler, waving at the two fishermen on the bridge. We make radio contact and they are happy enough to receive our information, which Frank, our action man, manages to pass up as we hit the peak of a wave.

We stay close by, giving them some time to read through our materials before radioing again to seek permission to come aboard. The fishermen let down the pilot's ladder and Frank, followed by Sarah, head onto the boat. Ten minutes later Sarah carefully jumps back onto the African Queen. Frank soon follows and we wave goodbye to the fishermen, who will be hauling their nets and heading home in the next few hours.

Back on the Esperanza, Sarah and I compare the damp patches left behind by our boat suits, and there’s still time for a cup of tea before our routine 11am internet connection!

- Elaine

1 comments

Observations from the multi-tasking Chris

Chris with the dry suits

Hello again from Chris in the North Sea. Since my last blog my role on board the Esperanza has changed from the influential assistant cook to the pivotal assistant campaigner. This meteoric rise has seen me graduate from chopping salad vegetables to repairing dry suit cuff and neck seals, and coiling then uncoiling vast lengths of cable and rope.

I have also been able to participate in the deck work, which coincidentally involves lots of coiling and uncoiling ropes and cables, as well as the very therapeutic pastime of chipping and painting. In fact, it is amazing how much work goes on onboard ship just to keep things ticking over. Every department I visit, which is all of them as really as I'm a general helper, seems to be working on all sorts of projects simultaneously.

For example, today we had a problem with the shower drains - something to do with the number of people being simultaneously sea sick - and there isn't a plumber on call 30 miles off the Shetlands. So engineers, mates and deck hands calmly transformed themselves into a team of plumbers and solved the problem. And so much faster than any plumber I've seen in London.

While I have your attention, the wildlife in the North Sea is astounding. In the past two days I've seen my first live dolphins - a small pod of Atlantic Whitesides escorted us for four hours. Until that point the only ones I'd seen had been "bycatch" washed up on the beaches of Devon and Cornwall. They are such graceful and beautiful creatures in their natural habitat. Also, not having spent much time closer to the sea than London, I have been coached by our action coordinator Frank not to just see gulls, but Gannets, Skuas, Fulmars and Terns - with just the occasional herring gull to make me feel at home.

There is also a rigorous safety regime on board, with safety meetings on an almost daily basis. While we were in Amsterdam the ship was joined by an old friend who just happens to be one of the trainers for the cave rescue service. So today we had a session on confined space stretcher handling and I landed the job of 'victim'. Right inside the ship's funnel I collapsed and had to be strapped into a stretcher, manhandled down ladders, pushed under pipes then dragged up stairs. It is very disconcerting being totally immobilised in the engine room of a ship - relying on skill, teamwork and brute strength of others to get you to safety without knocking you out en route. Being in the stretcher unable to move, stood upright on the poop deck, being allowed to fall a little in each direction before unseen hands caught me - this has been the scariest experience on board so far.

Must go now as I need to go and coil some ropes, or is it uncoil? I'm still learning these things.

- Chris

1 comments

A sign under the water

Thilo with the Viking Bank Marine Reserve sign

Hi, I'm Thilo from Germany and I'm an oceans campaigner. Gavin - our underwater cameraman - has asked me to help him in a diving excursion. The Esperanza arrives at the Shetlands in the early morning and I can't wait for the anchor to be set. After breakfast we prepare for the dive close to one of the hundred tiny islands that make up the Shetlands. Out on the rubber inflatable the sea is pretty rough and we can already feel the strong water current. While we gear up, several seals stick their heads out of the water close by to check us out - I didn't realise how curious these creatures are.

The purpose of the dive is to take pictures of the underwater world with a huge metal sign we brought reading "Viking Bank - protect it for future generations. No fishing. No drilling. No dredging. Thank you!" This message is to be taken underwater to highlight our demand for a marine reserve in this region.

At four metres depth we realise that our metal sign is a very efficient underwater sail that takes us everywhere but to the place we want to go. We drag and tow it down to the bottom, having to be very careful not to destroy any of the beautiful soft corals, seastars and sea urchins. Touchdown is in a kelp field in a channel between two small islands.

After Gavin takes the pictures we need to return to the inflatable. Unfortunately the current is so strong that we can't handle the huge metal sign, the camera and ourselves at the same time. We decide to let the current take us out of the channel in the opposite direction of the inflatable. Reliable Sabine - our experienced boat driver - recognises the situation and drives around the island to pick us up on the other side of the channel. Getting back into the rubber boat is a different story...

Sitting safe and dry on the deck of the Esperanza, I feel like I've experienced a little adventure. And the pictures that were taken speak for themselves.

- Thilo
1 comments

Changing to channel 10

Climbing aboard Boy John

Hi, I'm Louise, the new onboard press officer, experiencing life on the Esperanza for the first time. Today started with a group training session in how to use VHF radios to communicate ship-to-ship and RIB-to-RIB. Madeleine, the first mate, explained to us about the different channels used by ships when they communicate with each other, how to use the mobile radios (top tip – always have a spare battery) and the general protocols of communications between ships.

So now I can say things like ‘please switch to channel ten’ with a degree of authority! Having said I’d be well down the line of people called on to communicate with other ships after the captain, crew and campaigners…. but generally being a landlubber, its great to have the opportunity to learn more about life at sea.

Later in the afternoon I got to watch the professionals at work – as the campaigners tried to establish contact with boats. Basically they’ve been contacting all ships we come across and asking them whether they would be willing to let us come aboard and give them some campaign information (such as the rationale for reserves, exact maps of the areas we are calling to be out off limits and the scientific basis behind them).

Results have been varied. Some ships simply say no, some politely, some less politely; others agree to take information over the side. But today we were in luck, the skipper of a Scottish pair trawler (where two ships trawl together) called Boy John agreed to allow Sarah – our oceans campaigner – to come onboard to talk.

I stayed onboard – watching through binoculars as the RIB with Sarah and a support crew zipped over to the trawlers, roughly ……..away. Sarah climbed aboard and the RIB waited for her. Meantime the trawlers hauled their nets. After half an hour or so Sarah re-emerged and back came the RIB. Apparently the meeting went well. The reception was quite warm and the skipper agreed with a lot of what Sarah had to say about the decline in fish stocks and need for change. He agreed to read the materials and we asked him to respect the marine reserve and stop fishing in the area, something we are asking of all boats we encounter.

Later when I sat down to watch the video of the trip another story emerged. It seems the party trick of one of the fishermen on the second pair trawler (the one Sarah wasn’t on) had a party trick which involved stripping down to erm basically nothing except what looked suspiciously like marigold kitchen gloves on his privates! The crew reassured us he did it the whole time, and indeed on he went to merrily carry on hauling in the nets almost naked! Aaah life at sea….

- Louise

0 comments

Seal time

Seals on Whalsay Island

I admit it, I've been on the Esperanza for over a month and I haven't made it onto a RIB yet! (that's a rigid inflatable boat to the technically minded, inflatable to you and me). It's not that I'm scared of water or that wearing orange waterproof suits is not my cup of tea - more that I just didn't want to get in the way. Today is different though, we are in the Shetland Islands and there's life out here to see and for our photographer and videographer to document. A web editor needs to write about life so I sweet talk my way onto a RIB...

We anchor off Whalsay Island, one of the hundred odd islands that make up the Shetlands. It's a well protected bay, which is lucky as there is a gale force eight expected imminently. I don my orange outfit, complete with small hole on left thigh - making it not quite waterproof - and "whack on the wellies". Finally, to complete my moon landing suit comes the very important life vest, also in a nice shade of orange.

The crane grinds into action, lifting our RIB, 'the Grey Whale' from its cradle and depositing it ever so gently on the starboard side. Soon we are onboard and heading straight for a small rocky outcrop containing a colony of seals. There's a grin plastered on my face as the RIB flies through the water. I feel surprisingly secure as the spray every so often dampens my waterproofs.

We come close to the colony, and some of the larger seals flop themselves into the water to check us out. They are huge, camouflaged by the rocks, and it's only when they start moving about that we see how many there are. The kelp growing close to the outcrop prevents us getting any closer. We get what shots we can, but unable to land and with the conditions worsening, we decide to head back to the ship.

Still buzzing from the ride, I climb back onboard the Esperanza, happy to have finally ridden on a RIB and excited about seeing the seals. My lips are salty as I sip my hot tea. Next on my personal to do list - puffin spotting!

- Elaine

2 comments

Travelling in good company

View video footage of the campaign so far

The waves have been big and a few of us have been under the weather since we left the Ijmuiden breakwater on Monday afternoon. Thankfully the swell has calmed down now. At 7.30am there is an announcement - "dolphins on the port side", which sets into motion a scurrying of barely awake bodies trying to spot the magical creatures. The group of white beaked dolphins are racing alongside, plastering a smile to the faces of those watching. The sky has cleared with only a motley sprinkling of clouds on the horizon.

I've just finished working on a flash video player containing footage of life in the North Sea as well as the threats to the marine environment and some of the actions we've carried out on the Dogger Bank during this campaign. We’ll keep adding to this collection as the campaign continues.

We are steaming ahead to the Viking Bank Marine Reserve, an area that includes the Shetland Islands where Gavin took some of those amazing underwater images. The dolphins keep reappearing - providing an escort for the Esperanza as we head north to defend another of our marine reserves.

- Elaine

1 comments

Goodbye to the nether Netherlands

The Esperanza in Amsterdam awaiting departure

Early this morning I looked out from the poop deck of the Esperanza to see a rainbow just behind us - how very Greenpeace I thought... We're setting sail again - the sky in Amsterdam has been crying at the thought. The clouds finally part as the gang plank and our last chance of exit is removed. The Dutch Greenpeace office is across the canal from us - two floors of waving people, a nice way to leave port!

After a long weekend we've satisfied our need for solid ground and the ship is replenished with fresh food, water, fuel and 11 new people.

While in Amsterdam I tried to escape the sea for a bit by wandering around the Van Gough museum - getting there for opening at 10am Monday morning. Rushing ahead of the head-phoned ones, listening to their audio guides, I managed for a few moments to get a whole room of some of the world's most famous paintings all to myself. There was also the "Manet - Impressions of the sea" exhibition in the same gallery. It seems wherever you go in Amsterdam you just can't get away from the water.

The colours of the northern seas and skies now so familiar to me, were captured by these artists in the mid to late 1800s. The paintings show small sailing vessels surviving the forces of nature rather than today's reality of technology, economics, quotas and shortages. Life on and in the North Sea was certainly different back then.

So now, powering through waves bigger than we met rolling into port on Friday, we set out into the North Sea. We've had our fire drill and the crew meeting is in ten minutes. The grey outline of land is slipping away through the salt sprayed windows. Here's to another month at sea, defending our oceans!

- Elaine

1 comments