3 August 2006

Floating Waste Dump

by Slade, onboard the Esperanza

Today I was having afternoon tea in the Lounge, when Captain Frank came in and told us that there was an enormous amount of floating trash going by the ship. We were all very intrigued so we dashed out to the starboard side deck to check it out. The pic attached doesn't really give you a good idea of how much trash there was as it was difficult to capture on film. But I can tell you that we were sailing through huge amounts of garbage.

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1 August 2006

Captain Cook and the Endeavour.. erm .. I mean two Dutch Cooks and the Esperanza!

by Slade, onboard the Esperanza

Charles our cook is a damn good cook. But having to cook for 24 people, twice a day, 7 days a week must get a bit much after awhile without a day off. So today it was time for something a bit different. Charles had the evening off from preparing dinner. It was over to Captain Frank and 3rd Mate Diek who volunteered to help out.

So late this afternoon Frank and Diek jumped into the galley to cook up a storm. It's not often we get dinner from anyone else other than Charles. They had big shoes to fill after the brilliant food that Charles serves us up each day.

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31 July 2006

The Latest and Greatest...

by Slade, onboard the Esperanza

As we make our way to Singapore, Roger on board the Rainbow Warrior has been getting some fantastic photos or underwater sea creatures. He has some great underwater pictures of Tube Worms, Bristleworms and other cool looking sea... things. I'd highly recommend you check em' out!

As I sit here, some news comes through from our New Zealand office. In the early hours of this morning, Greenpeace activists boarded a deep sea bottom trawler - the Belize flagged Chang Xing - in Port Nelson. The activists have locked themselves to the ship preventing it from leaving port.

This action takes place as a UN report confirms that there is an urgent need to protect the deep sea.

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28 July 2006

A Time To Reflect.

by Slade,onboard the Esperanza

As we sail past a beautiful remote island not so far from Burma, I think it's time to reflect. I think that I've been so busy that I really haven't sat back to think about this amazing experience I'm having. Perhaps it's something I will reflect upon after I get off the ship and slow down for a minute to see it. It really has been amazing to spend time on this ship, spend time with the crew and see the great things that a ship like this can achieve for the environment. I think without the Esperanza we wouldn't be able to achieve a lot of things that we currently do. This ship, in conjunction with the Artic Sunrise and Rainbow Warrior... We can achieve anything!

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26 July 2006

Greenpeace Employee Arrested In Philippines

by Slade, onboard the Esperanza

As we sail the high seas towards South East Asia and eventually onto the Philippines, we hear of a very interesting story coming out of our South East Asian office in the Philippines. A Greenpeace employee who was taking some water samples near a mining operation has been detained by Police and what appears to be no official charge.

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25 July 2006

Another Morning On The Bridge

by Slade, onboard the Esperanza

Well, it's 4am and I’m sat here on the bridge typing a little weblog for you all. It's very dark. In fact, the only light here is the glow from my laptop screen and the dimmed lighting on the radar screen and various other navigational equipment on the bridge console. I look out the window and all I can see if pure darkness. So dark that I can’t even see the horizon. It's just one big bit of black, and if you stare into it for a minute or so it makes you feel blind because there is literally nothing to see. With Diek's Dutch ambient tunes playing softly in the background from his mp3 player, the sound of crickets doing their chirp to attract the female, and the motions of the ship, it's all very relaxing.

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24 July 2006

A MOB Alarm Drill

by Slade, onboard the Esperanza

On Saturday morning, at about 11:30am this morning, when most people are out supermarket shopping or visiting relatives, the Man Over Board (MOB) alarm sounded on the ship. It was a drill to test the crew’s awareness and to make sure everyone knew what to do in the event of a Man Over Board.

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22 July 2006

Back To Sea

by Slade, onboard the Esperanza

Well we're now back at sea. We were itching to get to India, then we were itching to get back to sea. Don't get me wrong, India was very nice, the people were fantastic, but there is something about being at sea that is like nothing else. With the gentle waves, fresh sea air, dolphins, flying fish and even jumping tuna, it's just so nice to be out here in the Ocean. So that means back to rolling around in bed, holding onto the desk while I type and stumbling up and down hallways. But I love it!

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20 July 2006

Chocolate-thumbs Charles

by Namrata, currently visiting the Esperanza

We've had a deluge of visitors all week, many of them journalists wanting to know everything about the Espy and of course, the campaign. Quite apart from the press conference where we launched our report on the Indian Coastal and Marine Environment, practically every news network in town has sent a camera unit down, and the campaigners and crew have been buttonholed in the strangest corners of the ship, pinned down by journalists keen to get that "special insider's perspective." Four days of running up and down the ship, attending to the many requests for information, photographs and clipreels and fielding several hundred questions on the phone... it all makes for one hungry media officer! And that is probably what led me to the best-kept secret on board the Esperanza; Chocolate-thumbs Charles.

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A Short Message From Greenpeace India!

by Denny & Jeetender, currently visiting the Esperanza

On 16th I was at Madras port, I was so excited to see Esperanza in reality. I don't know what to say? But I feel something pumping out from me inside.. and I met some good peoples out here .. and Slade is one of them who helps me out to understand more deeply about the Esperanza... I learnt a lot about Greenpeace deeply after interacting with the crews. I had good times interacting with school childrens, college student and the public.. Glad that this ship travels the whole world and spread the messages of green clean world.. Carry on dude!! Keep rocking, I will be missing you guys like a small baby misses his mom!!

Denny
(Fundraising Team - Greenpeace Chennai, India)

________________________________________

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19 July 2006

Open Boat - Day 2

by Slade, onboard the Esperanza

Wow! What a day. Today has been great. Nice sunny day, maybe a tad too warm for my liking but nice all the same. It was Open Boat again and we've had loads of people turn up. We've had lots of school children, the Indian Coast Guard, and the general public. I don't think I've ever met this many people in my life, most of whom I can't recall their names. It's a brain overload.

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18 July 2006

Open Boat - Day 1

by Slade, onboard the Esperanza

Since arriving in India a few days ago we’ve been having a great time. It’s been humid; we’ve all been working very hard but has been very rewarding. Today started at 8am on deck preparing for a big day of official visits and various guests. 11am was press a conference and we had all the major national news agencies which broadcasted great shots of the Esperanza right across India. The state owned TV has the biggest coverage in India and they were onboard too, filming interviews.

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16 July 2006

Arrival In Chennai - India

by Slade, onboard the Esperanza

Today we arrived in Chennai, India. It was a very warm reception from the local people. We had a traditional Carnatic Music Band playing on the quayside when we came along side. They then boarded and gave each crew members a Haars (a necklace made of fresh flowers), and dabbed our forehead with a paint like substance known as Tikka. It’s basically a blessing welcoming ritual. They also gave us some sweet candy called Misri which was yum. It was very nice to be greeted with the local customs and experience some fantastic Indian Culture. It was quite a unique experience, which we all enjoyed a lot.

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