20 February 2006

Weekly preparations report

by Pete, onboard the Esperanza

Another week has gone by and our preparations are proceeding apace. Sometimes it seems like one step forward and three back. But that's quite normal.

Apart from the daily routine of ship's tasks we've been making repairs and modifications that are needed, charts and nautical publications have been corrected and new ones ordered where necessary. We've drilled in emergency fire fighting and had familiarisation safety tours (all part of on-going on board training and safety). Stores have been ordered, and this week we will load them, plus take on fuel and top up with freshwater. We'll be ready to go towards the end of the month.

Also, during the course of the coming week, the rest of on board Defending Our Oceans team for this leg will arrive. For the last couple of weeks it's just been the crew here, and we're all looking forward to their arrival. We don't make any distinctions between crew and campaigners - we are all working together towards a common purpose - and as crew we know that none of our ships would ever sail as an effective and efficient campaign tool without the work of committed people throughout the rest of Greenpeace.

I have been involved in some of the planning for Defending Our Oceans, which has been going on for some months now. The state of the world's oceans demands a campaign of this nature, and Greenpeace has the expertise and maturity throughout the organisation to do this. It has taken a lot of hard work, commitment and resources to get even this far, and we are now about to embark on a year's voyage which is the focal point of the overall project.

The Defending Our Oceans campaign is an exciting and innovative one. It will provide the platform to change the way that people currently think of the oceans. It is quite a change from "traditional" Greenpeace campaigning - this time we are looking at the oceans as a whole instead of focusing on one species, industrial practice or specific area. A vital (and integral) part is the work and participation of our Ocean Defenders. I hope a lot people will join us, not just throughout this year, but also into the long-term oceans campaigning which will follow afterwards.

The world's oceans, and the life they support (including our own), need our help before it's too late. We don't just want to expose the destruction and over-exploitation that is taking place there. We also want to show and suggest and demand positive and achievable solutions to stop this abuse and to save and revitalise the oceans.

We can only do this with your participation. The first step is to sign up and become an Ocean Defender - become part of it.

   

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Comments

Posted by: echo at February 21, 2006 1:32 AM

Posted by: Brianfit at February 21, 2006 9:33 AM

Posted by: Pavlos at February 21, 2006 7:48 PM

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