Around the Americas Rotating Header Image Around the Americas
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Our Team
    • Our Partners
    • Get Involved
  • Expedition
    • The Route
    • The Crew
    • The Boat
  • Science & Education
    • Science Program
    • Education Program
    • Ocean Conservation
  • Blog
  • Gallery
  • Press
    • Recent Media Coverage
    • For the Media

Posts from ‘May, 2009’

AROUND THE AMERICAS FOR THE HEALTH OF OUR OCEANS

May 29th, 2009
by sailing.
No comments yet

OWatDock

ONE BOAT, 13 MONTHS, 12 COUNTRIES, ONE GIGANTIC ISLAND;

Friday, May 29, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 29,2009
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan McConnell 206-819-9211

SEATTLE-When the 64-foot sailboat, Ocean Watch, leaves the dock in Seattle this Sunday, it will begin a momentous voyage called Around the Americas-a 25,000 mile clockwise circumnavigation of the North and South American continents.  The scientifically-equipped sailboat with scientists and educators on board during various legs of the voyage, will make 31 stopovers in 13 months to draw attention to the changing condition of the oceans.

This is a project that has been three years in the making.  A consortium has been formed to make the public more aware of the plight of our Oceans. The founding partners are Pacific Science Center, a nationally-recognized leader in informal science and environmental education, and Sailors for the Sea, a non-profit organization that educates and empowers the boating community to protect and restore our oceans and coastal waters. They have joined in this undertaking with Captain Mark Schrader, a world-record-holding, solo circumnavigator and ocean race director,  and his experienced,  professional crew of three talented sailors, who have all been long-time supporters of ocean conservation.
After leaving Puget Sound, Ocean Watch will head north and make its first international port-of-call in Victoria, British Columbia on Monday, June 1.  One more day of provisioning will take place in Victoria after a welcoming ceremony and then on Wednesday, June 3 the voyage goes north toward the Northwest Passage.

David Rockefeller, Jr., co-founder of Sailors for the Sea, said, " This project is definitely an expedition for our times.  The health of our oceans is important to all of us, not just those who live by the sea.  Our food sources, our climate and even the air we breathe are dependent on the vast ocean systems.  Around the Americas will demonstrate both the current deterioration of the ocean condition and what we as individuals can do to reverse or at least slow the negative effects."

The science education component of this project is being led by the Pacific Science Center.  Bryce Seidl, president of Pacific Science Center stated, "We have put together a very strong coalition of scientists and educators to ensure the success of this project.  The University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory; the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, RMR Co., MIT Sea Grant College Program and the NASA Student Cloud Observations On-Line are all internationally recognized for their leadership in the fields of polar science, oceanography, atmospheric sciences and climate research.  We have a great team!"

A major funder of Around the Americas is The Tiffany & Co. Foundation.  Fernanda Kellogg, President, remarked "The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, since inception, has had a focus on marine conservation, specifically coral, an d the Around the Americas program promotes awareness and education of the importance of healthy coral reefs."

The Around the Americas website www.aroundtheamericas.org will be the primary means of communication from Ocean Watch.  Daily crew reports, photographs, video and satellite telephones, along with a tracking program from iBoat  that updates the boat’s position every two hours, will provide the world access to the science and educational adventures of Ocean Watch during the coming year.

Fact Sheet follows and Stopover schedule is attached.

Around the Americas 2009-2010

Fact Sheet

What: The first continuous 25,000 mile clockwise circumnavigation of North and South American continents.  The 64-foot steel-hulled sail boat, Ocean Watch, will use science-driven, on-the-water activities and education materials to draw attention to the changing condition of the oceans.

Who: Permanent crew of four including:

Captain Mark Schrader, 62, Stanwood, WA, world record holder for 1st American single-handed circumnavigation of the world via the five Southern Capes and ocean race director;

First Mate David Logan, 60, Seattle, WA, veteran ocean cruising and racing sailor and skilled boat refit manager;

Watch Captain and correspondent Herb McCormick, 53, Newport, RI, former editor of Cruising World magazine and sailing correspondent/sportswriter for the New York Times. Veteran ocean racer;

Watch Captain and photographer David Thoreson, 49, Okoboji, IA, sailed below the Antarctic Circle, twice above the Arctic

Circle, three Atlantic crossings; the first American sailor in history to transit the Northwest Passage east to west, photographer and documentarian

Others aboard: A scientist; an educator and two media/VIPs, all of whom will come and go at various pre-arranged ports

When: Departing Seattle, May 31, 2009 and returning in July, 2010 after making 31 stopovers in 12 countries.

Where: Going north from Seattle through the Northwest Passage, down the east coast of North and South America, rounding Cape Horn and returning to Seattle

Why: The mission of the Around the Americas project is to utilize this unusual adventure to engage and educate citizens in North and South America about ocean-health issues.

Major Underwriters: The Tiffany & Co. Foundation; the Rockefeller family; the Osberg Family Trust; and James Bishop

Additional Supporters: Charles Butt, Edmund B. Cabot, The Campbell Foundation, John Castle, Jim & Dee Claypool, the Ettinger Foundation, the Herbert Hoover Foundation and Vantage in Philanthropy

Managing Partners: Pacific Science Center, a nationally-recognized leader in informal science and environmental education, www.pacsci.org   and Sailors for the Sea, a non-profit organization that educates and empowers the boating community to protect and restore our oceans and coastal waters,www.sailorsforthesea.org .

Science Collaborators: University of Washington Applied Physics Lab, the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, RMR Co., MIT Sea Grant College Program, the Office of Naval Research, and NASA Student Cloud Observations On-Line.                              

Communications Provider: Iridium/Stratos Satellite Communications

Website:   www.aroundtheamericas.org

Art Project: Dale Chihuly, world renown artist                                 

Documentarian: Laszlo Pal, Pal Productions, award-winning adventure documentary producer-director

Official Suppliers: Bainbridge Sailcloth/Port Townsend Sails; Blue Seas Electrical; Euro Marine Trading; Fisheries Supply; Freeborn Concepts LLC; Hatton Marine; Helly Hansen; Iridium/Stratos Satcom; Jeppesen Marine; Lewmar; Logan Services; Miller & Miller Marine; Northern Lights/Lugger Marine; Navionics; Northwest Rigging; O’Mega Graphics; Outdoor Research; Raymarine Instruments; Remote Satellite Systems; Samson Rope; Seaview East Boatyard; SSI; Stratos Satellite Communications; Sure Marine/Webasto; Swedish Hospital – Ballard; Vi Jean Reno; and Winslow Life Raft Company.

Contact: info@aroundtheamericas.org

JOIN US FOR AROUND THE AMERICAS WEEKEND AT SHILSHOLE MARINA!!!

May 28th, 2009
by sailing.
No comments yet

Ocean Watch from the Crow's Nest

Join us for Around the Americas Weekend at Shilshole Marina!!!
Meet the crew, tour the boat

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Ocean Watch will be moored at Shilshole’s I-Dock by Saturday morning. The boat will be available for public viewing from noon until 4pm on Saturday as the crew makes final preparations.

Departure for the 13-month, 25,000 mile voyage is 12pm Noon on Sunday, May 31.

A short program with the crew and organizers will begin at 11am at I-Dock. The crew will piped aboard at 11:45 and you can wish them bon voyage at Noon.

This is an ocean environment voyage for our times. Don’t miss the send-off!

Crew Log 3 – Ramblings from the Scientist

May 27th, 2009
by Dr. Michael Reynolds.
No comments yet

Open the below pictures in a full-screen slideshow by Flickr

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

May 27, 2009 – Seattle
by Dr. R. Michael Reynolds

Michael Reynolds, Ph.D.Tuesday May 26, Expedition day -5.

NOW ON TO SCIENCE
A couple of days ago I shared with you my personal feelings as we approach castoff. Today I will talk about our science. Let me say up front that at this point in the project I am still learning about all the different projects we will undertake. Yesterday we met with several of the scientists who are contributing to the program and I and the rest of the crew learned some of our tasks for supporting the projects. Note, many of the science projects are presented in other pages on this site, so if I mention something that interests you, you can jump over to those pages.

What an incredible route we are taking. From about 74 degrees North latitude (well above the Arctic Circle) to maybe 56 degrees South as we face the Southern Ocean and the “Roaring Forties.” We will traverse every possible climactic region: temperate, Arctic, high Arctic, tropical, the Southern Ocean and many more. We will cross regions of high biological productivity, such as the upwelling regions along the western coastlines, and places where the sea life is almost void, such as the Sargasso Sea.

Climate regions range from thick Arctic haze to the regions of marine stratocumulus along the western coastlines. All of these regions are part of the admixture of nature and each is crucial to the environment as we know it. And, each is being changed by human activity. Today one of the scientists made a good point, “This is a voyage of discovery, not a hypothesis driven voyage.” That is, we are not out to prove or disprove any specific scientific theory or hypothesis. Rather we are out to see a broad scope over a large geographic region. We follow in the shadows of famous oceanographic expeditions such as Nansen’s Fram voyage, the Challenger and Discovery Expeditions, and of course Darwin and the Beagle. We are going out with a rough idea of what we want to do, but completely open to what we see, and hear.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The science program on Ocean Watch has developed through the efforts of many. A couple of people deserve recognition before we go much further. Dr. Kris Ludwig of the Pacific Science Center, the project science director, has had to organize and filter the different requests for participation. Dr. Andrew Jessup of the UW Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has supported the underway program with funding from his ongoing research and with new funding support, in a tight economy, from APL. The science program is what it is thanks to these two. Of course these are just two persons in a host of contributors.

OBSERVATIONS, SPOT AND UNDERWAY
Science depends on data. The theorist and experimentalist work hand in hand to collect and understand data. It is said that most, if not all, scientific discovery follows the development of a new instrument or technique. We will be collecting two kinds of data: spot samples and underway data. Spot samples include biological sightings and samples (such as jelly fish), water samples, photographs, or optical sightings. The crew will be busy collecting samples and bringing that information back to waiting scientists. Each spot sample must be carefully handled and marked with the exact location and the time it was collected (who, what, when, and how). Yesterday we learned about a few of the spot samples we will be taking:

A FEW SPOT SAMPLES
Sun attenuation: Aerosols are all the impurities in the atmosphere. The dust, haze, smog, ash. The aerosol optical depth is how we measure the attenuation of sunlight by the aerosols. David Covert of the NOAA- Univ. of Washington Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) showed us the MicroTops, a handheld instrument that measures the brightness of the sun in several color bands. If we can measure the sun down here at the surface of the Earth we can know how much is attenuated by the aerosols in the air. Direct measurements of the sun are rare, especially over the ocean.

Underwater Sound: Dr. Peter Dahl from the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) explained the operation of a special underwater hydrophone and high fidelity digital recorder we will use to survey underwater sounds. As we stop to observe any wildlife and when we are in ports, we will take recordings of the noise background.

Drifting buoys: A large program of drifting buoys has provided global ocean and atmospheric coverage to the scientific community for many years now. These “drifting buoys” come in many flavors, some large and expensive and others very simple. We will participate in the buoy program by launching two buoys in the Arctic. Dr. Ignatius Rigor, Coordinator of the International Arctic Buoy Program, demonstrated one of the drifting buoys we will deploy. Very easy: remove the on/off magnet and toss it in.

Jelly Fish: Dr. Bill Ascher brought all the equipment we will need to collect, document, and save samples of jelly fish we encounter on the trip. We will be netting specimens, photographing them, and clipping small pieces to store for lab analysis. Messy work but someone needs to do it.

OUR UNDERWAY DATA
Underway data are the data that are collected automatically and continuously. You can think of underway data as a continuous stream of spot samples, but it is collected and processed in a much different manner.

SeaKeepers: We have a SeaKeepers underway met/ocean system. Seawater will be pumped through a hole in the ship and through instruments that measure the ocean temperature, acidity (PH), oxygen, and salinity. The SeaKeepers system sucks a continuous stream of seawater through a hole in the side of Ocean Watch. The water flows through an instrument that measures many of the water properties then it flows back out to sea. We will be measuring the temperature, salinity, PH, and oxygen content in the water on a continuous basis. Those are the important parameters for us to know how the acidity and oxygen in the water change as we make this grand circuit between the large urban centers and remote regions. It will be impossible to understand the “health” of the ocean without these data. The SeaKeepers system includes meteorological instruments which are mentioned below. The SeaKeeper data are transmitted to the Inmarsat satellite and are available in real time to the global weather data system, called GTS.

Ladybug Camera System: A unique hemispheric camera was installed by APL. The ladybug camera system uses six separate lenses which point in five directions around the horizon and down. All directions and their images are spliced together in real time by very sophisticated software. Dan Clark, an engineer with APL, demonstrated the operation of the Ladybug camera system. The Ladybug system will provide a set of photographs from all directions at a ten-second rate. When interesting things occur we can operate the system as a hemispheric movie camera. The camera will document occurrences of jelly fish in support of the specimen collecting we will be doing. In another study the photos will be used to survey wave breaking and foam.

Meteorology and Air-Sea Interaction: It is important to understand how energy and water mix between the air and the ocean. We will be collecting records of winds, air temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, sunlight, infrared radiation, and location (GPS). We also will record our tilt, compass direction, and the temperature of the sea surface. Thanks to support from the University of Washington’s APL, a first-class meteorological system has been installed on the top of the mast, about 76 feet above the water.

Okay, I assume you are completely bored, or overwhelmed at this point. As we progress I will try to talk about these and other of the instruments we will be using.
Only those who risk going too far
Will know how far they can go.
- T.S. Eliot

Remember: all views, ideas, and comments here are ad hoc, off the cuff, poorly researched, and subject to revision at any moment.

*This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos

*To add a comment to this story click on the comment link below the post title. Please direct your messages for the crew to crew@aroundtheamericas.org instead of submitting them here. Thanks for following the Around the Americas Expedition.

Crew Log 2 – Ramblings from the Scientist

May 25th, 2009
by Dr. Michael Reynolds.
No comments yet

Open the below pictures in a full-screen slideshow by Flickr

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

May 25, 2009 – Seattle
by Dr. R. Michael Reynolds

Michael Reynolds, Ph.D.Sunday May 24, Expedition day -7. Ramblings from the Scientist –
This will be the first blog from Dr. R. Michael Reynolds, the scientist that will sail on the Ocean Watch from Seattle to Barrow, and possibly beyond, and on other long legs from Miami to Buenos Aires and from Lima to San Diego.

MENTAL PREPARATION
At 7:55 am I am waiting for the Hi spot Cafe to open for breakfast. There is time for me to begin this first entry as one of the scientists on this most remarkable voyage around the Americas. I am excited at the opportunity to share my experience and observations with all the readers and supporters of this project. I will try to give you the right blend of personal rumination and scientific observation without boring technicalities or maudlin emotions.

There is a period of time before a long expedition when one begins to pay attention to the minutiae of life’s progress and how they go on hold the moment lines are cast and the ship sails. For me this is a familiar feeling. I have been going on science expeditions since I flew cosmic ray balloons at Fort Churchill Canada over forty five years ago. It was on that trip that this Texas farm boy was presented to the idea of “oceanography.” My mentor at that time, John Ables, a cosmic ray physicist, said ,”You know, your degree in electrical engineering coupled with oceanography would be a terrific combination.” A person’s life is dotted with these sorts of stepping stones and after that moment I had a goal and a passion. Observational geophysics is what I do and I have worked around the world from the Persian Gulf to the tallest building in New York City to the Arctic ice cap. And now, by shear providence I have fallen in with the Around the Americas team. What a thrill.

But back to my breakfast and to my growing appreciation of the little things I will miss on this trip. Family and friends, our Golden Doodle puppy Lucy, seeing my granddaughter, Chloe, off to school. Sailors walk away from one life and plunge into another and all those dear habits are exchanged for another set. Of course it does not sadden me to leave the bad things, what Zorba called “the full catastrophe.” Paying bills, email spam, conference calls, automobile repair, TV, and all Hamlet’s slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. As the dock lines are cast next Sunday you will hear my sigh as I release and center, Zen like, to the life at sea, the life of the moment. As a jazz musician said “We all have problems, but as soon as you get out on that stage they all go away.”

THE PAYOFF, FRIENDS, CHALLENGE, AND NATURE
You will hear more about the magic that lures people to the sea. These feelings have been described again and again in countless books and articles. It is a personal feeling and the attraction is different and unique for every person. There is the confrontation of machine and nature, there is the quiet somnolence of a quiet sea, the excitement of wildlife, new lands, and strange creatures. But there are special joys for the scientist. First we get yanked from the academic world of papers and seminars and plunked into the challenge of coaxing delicate instruments to take highly accurate measurements in an incredibly hostile situation. Second is the personal interaction. An ocean expedition thrusts strangers into an isolated environment where they learn to work together. Your circle of friends grows and grows around the world so when you reach the first port you are as close as if you grew up together. I think it is this aspect of ocean cruising that I enjoy the most. Friendships, challenge, and nature. How many times in my life have I found myself saying “I can’t believe they are paying me to do this.”

Over the past month I have met the crew with which I shall be sailing, and I cannot imagine a better or more competent group.

FUTURE CORRESPONDENCE
Over the course of this cruise I hope I can write, as the scientist and as a very fortunate human, of both the technical work we will do and of my personal feelings and experiences. I’ll try to give a good blend and I hope to avoid boring you too much with technical detail. That will be on other pages for those who want it. Here I will subscribe to the principle of simplicity. As Epstein wrote in his book “Thinking Physics,” “There’s an easy way to explain anything. It’s just hard to find it.”

Remember: all views, ideas, and comments here are ad hoc, off the cuff, poorly researched, and subject to revision at any moment.

-  Michael Reynolds michael@rmrco.com

*This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos

*To add a comment to this story click on the comment link below the post title. Please direct your messages for the crew to crew@aroundtheamericas.org instead of submitting them here. Thanks for following the Around the Americas Expedition.

Crew Log 1 – Under Sail

May 23rd, 2009
by Herb McCormick.
1 comment

Open the below pictures in a full-screen slideshow by Flickr

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

May 23, 2009 – Seattle
by Herb McCormick

Herb's HeadshotThe final days of preparation for any long ocean voyage are generally languorous, mellow affairs with the crew lolling about reflecting on life and its greater meanings. Actually, that’s not true. The final days are always crazed, stressful periods for all concerned, every one of whom spends long moments wondering why and how they got involved with this madness in the first place.

That may not be true, either. But, earlier this week, at least, that might have been the case for the entire team behind Ocean Watch.

Then, yesterday, something happened that reminded everyone of what lay ahead, and why we’d all come together in the first place. It was the simplest, most satisfying of acts. We went sailing.

It was a cool, grey morning in Seattle (surprise!) when first mate and project manager David Logan steered Ocean Watch into the Ballard Locks for the transit from her lakeside slip at Seaview East Boatyard for the short transit to Shilshole Marina. Logan is a pretty fine boat driver but there was more than a little current running and, steel-hull aside, some nifty fender handling by mate Andy Gregory saved a solid kiss with the barnacle-encrusted locks.
It was pretty fitting that Andy and boatbuilder Paul LaRussa were aboard, because Ocean Watch wouldn’t have been gliding through any locks at all without their considerable talents and efforts. Andy’s mom, Kathy, is an old colleague of mine at Cruising World magazine who has covered my, um, posterior on countless occasions. Now it looks like it’s Andy’s turn. A licensed captain, he’s become such a solid member of the team that he’ll be joining the crew for the first northward stretch of the journey.

On a day destined to raise Ocean Watch’s collective soul and spirit, the first thing to cooperate was the weather. Once through the locks, the sun broke through the clouds, as warm and welcome as could be. We all enjoyed meeting glass sculptor and local hero Dale Chihuly, who has been an ardent supporter of the expedition from the outset. Then, once the media event was over, with the notable exception of the TV crew from the local NBC affiliate, King-5-who did a fantastic job summarizing the voyage in a well-done film clip that evening http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?z=y&nvid=363742&shu=1 – it was time to hoist sail.

It was the first time I’d seen the new mainsail from Carol Hasse’s Port Townsend Sails loft, which is an absolute work of art. Quite literally, so is our new 1.5-ounce North Sails asymmetric cruising spinnaker. Jack Christiansen of Seattle’s North loft was also on board, and after he helped us sort out the sheet leads and the ATN “sock” from which it’s deployed, and we got the huge sail up and drawing, we all sat back and had a good look at the incredible, painted-blue logo that adorns it.

There above us, flying from the masthead, were the continents of North and South America, brilliantly back-lit from the morning sun. At the helm, after shutting down the engine, Dave Logan stared aloft and soaked up some rays. As project manager, he’s been sweating the details with skipper Mark Schrader for many a moon now. But for now, at least, in the proverbial “bright, shining moment,” he sure looked content.

Gazing around, he wasn’t the only one.

Herb McCormick

*This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos

*To add a comment to this story click on the comment link below the post title. Please direct your messages for the crew to crew@aroundtheamericas.org instead of submitting them here. Thanks for following the Around the Americas Expedition.

← Earlier Posts
  • S/V Ocean Watch Live Tracking

    S/V Ocean Watch Live Tracking
  • Upcoming Port Calls

    Seattle, Washington - Return June 17

  • Our Mission

    Around the Americas is a 28,000 mile sailing circumnavigation of the American continents with the mission of inspiring, educating and engaging the citizens of the Americas to protect our fragile oceans. Read more...
  • Recent Posts

    • Crew Log 253 – Dorothy Was Right
    • Crew Log 252 – Wrapping Things Up
    • Crew Log 251 – Closing the Circle
    • Education Log 4 – Ocean Watch and Mars
    • Crew Log 250 – Two Tales in One
    • Education Log 3 – Reflections on a Voyage of Discovery
    • Crew Log 249 – Around the Corner
    • Crew Log 248 – One Last Nosebleed
    • Crew Log 247 – Rolling Down the River
    • Crew Log 246 – Up the River
  • Browse the Archives

    Organized by category:
    Crew Logs
    Science
    Education

  • Categories

    • Crew Log
    • Education
    • For the Media
    • Port Calls
    • Recent Media Coverage
    • S/V Ocean Watch
    • Science
    • Uncategorized
    • Video
  • Tags

    aerosols APL-UW aquaculture arctic buoys Around the Americas ata Chihuly clouds coastal erosion corals current educator el niño environment floating debris friends history hydrophone jellyfish JISAO met package MIT Sea Perch NASA S'COOL ocean acidification ocean education ocean health onboard scientist plastic debris runoff sailors tourism weather wildlife
  • Search

  • Archives

    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
  • Share this Blog

    Share |
 
Principal Partners
 
 
Major Funding From
 
 

© 2019 Around the Americas | Powered by WordPress Home | Blog | Contact Us | Original Site WordPress theme by Frank MacNeil