It was Grand Isle, Louisiana, today and a meeting with Shell’s sustainability team, from the US and Netherlands, The Nature Conservancy, and Wetlands International. The site was Grand Isle, sort of the end of the road, where LA 1 meets the Gulf of Mexico. I know this is a hard blog to follow because today we are not on the boat but traveling by car down one of the most important highways in the world. This is where the bulk of offshore oil is developed off Louisiana’s coast and where one vulnerable roadway is critical to US energy security. This is also a region of vast wetland erosion and where shrimp boats co-exist with offshore oil crew boats and jack-up rigs. Of particular note is the building of a new US 1, an elevated highway that will be less vulnerable to the rising tides that more and more threaten the service road, so critical to domestic energy supply. After an energizing meeting on Grand Isle, where ideas were shared that could lead to greater world cooperation on an agenda for sustainability of the world’s premiere deltas, it was a dash to the airport in New Orleans to resume the Storm Rider tour. I made the airport in time but AirTran’s decision for an early departure shut me out of getting back to the boat tonight in Ft. Myers. As I watched the captain of the AirTran jet through the airport waiting area window witness a few of us who he left behind waving furiously, I could not help but long for the simpler moments on board the boat, where the efficiencies of life fail to trump the experience. More tomorrow as I try to get back on a schedule for the weekend that leads to Sarasota and St. Pete, Florida. Happy Sails!

At an inaugural meeting of the LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio, a university-based professional training studio to restore, protect, and sustain America’s WETLAND. This new project supported by the Foundation, is to develop a new practice design based on real projects for restoration. This project fits into the Climate, Energy and the Coast project of the Foundation and the aim to help develop broader capacity and intellectual capital for meeting the growing challenges facing wetlands

Here in New Orleans tonight out at dinner with international representatives of wetlands sustainability efforts. Today the America’s WETLAND Foundation with World Sponsor Shell hosted a briefing for representatives of Netherland’s-based Wetlands International and the Louisiana and Washington offices The Nature Conservancy. The topic for discussion was planning a world summit for sharing challenges facing the world’s deltaic regions. More to come. Happy Sails!

What a difference a day makes. Awoke this morning to tents going up for a food festival at the marina but the smoke in the area was not from food but the fires raging not far away in the everglades, sparked by dry conditions. The fires have closed the major East/West route called “Alligator Alley,” which was the route home tonight. Today began by sending off the Duval’s on the next leg of their journey to a state park to anchor out overnight. As they left the America’s WETLAND Flag was flying as a signal to all to save this precious resource.

Out into the channel, we could tell that the seas were not as hungry today by the small recreational boats heading out into the Gulf of Mexico. This section of the Florida coast is dotted with beautiful white sand beaches, where the rumor is great shelling occurs. This day is a short passage for the Storm Rider heading to Ft. Myers Beach and the Salty Sam’s Marina for the week that hopefully includes completing corrections on the boat’s electronics. En route the waters were filled with sailors and regattas taking advantage of favorable winds. Several crossed our paths, which meant coming to a halt, as boats under sail have the right of way. This coastline has some nice quiet beaches but looking toward Naples, you can see that sky scrapers are dotting the landscape bring some closer to heaven quicker than necessary. This is a 30 mile run before reaching Ft. Myers and an appointment with a news reporter, Keri Hendry from the local Island Sand Newspaper, who is interested in learning more about Louisiana’s coastal land loss and our Storm Rider Tour messages about sustainability of the region that is so often hammered by storms. This is the end of the line for the two puppy sailors, who need to head back before the Gulf crossing. A few new crew members from St. Louis join next week on the leg from Ft. Myers to St. Pete. The days at sea and particularly the rocky waters yesterday took a toll on the Storm Warning decals on the boat, so replacements will be on the way. Kids were jumping from the bridges welcoming us and, as luck would have it after rough cruising, we were followed in after this day at sea by pirates, who just happen to make this dock their Ft. Myers beach hideaway. Have a great week and we’ll pick back up on Thursday.
Happy Sails!

Holy Cow! What a day on the “high” seas. Little did we realize that the dark clouds hiding a peaking sun right after our daybreak departure was an omen of a rough day at sea.


Fires were raging in the everglades and the dockmaster wondered if we were going to have a “honkering” day. We guessed that was a local Key West term for breezy but were wrong, honkering must be a howling wind. By 8:00 AM we were rocking and rolling to 6-8-9 foot seas (prediction was 3-6) and we had nine and a half hours of gust from the east pounding our starboard bow.

All of the crew had the queazy feeling, but all earned their sea legs and more… The destination would be Marco Island and with the auto pilot for the boat still on the blink after four days of work, we just filed this day under “boating.” Very few vessels were out in the Florida Bay. Off of our port side we were parallel to another trawler but when the waves rose we lost sight. One fast boat sped directly to us out of nowhere and as it zoomed on by heading to the roughest seas I could image at that speed that they would feel in popcorn in one of those Jiffy Puff bags by the end of their journey. Seeing land is always rewarding, so this was particularly true this day. The route into the marina at Marco Island was a bit tricky but we were meeting America’s WETLAND Foundation Board member Berwick Duval and his wife Alexis who radioed to us with directions for the final leg. The Duval’s live in Houma, have a wonderful Mainship trawler, “Moondance,” and they have great stories of family outings with her. After checking out each other’s boats, we told boating tales at dinner.
Berwick and Alexis were coming from the Everglades and the Shark River on the tip of Florida Bay. We made sure to out “Moondance” with an official America’s WETLAND flag, helping to send the message out broader about the importance of saving coastal Louisiana. The night ended with a big wash down of the boat. There was salt everywhere from the crossing, as if we had been through a salt shower. Tomorrow would bring a much shorter journey north to Ft. Myers. As the day ended, it was hard not to feel the movement of the waves even on dry land. Happy Sails!

With a 23 Knots wind at our stern, Saturday’s 90-mile run from the upper Keys to the lower Keys was a success. Aboard to help crew was long-time friend Bill Burg from Boston who helped First Mate Juan chart and select routes.
In most cases a run in 2-4 foot seas with a strong wind is not a day at the beach, but coming from the East, winds kept us at about 11-12 kts for most of the eight hours. Sights along the way included the old Flagler Railroad bridge, a sign of times gone by when rail brought goods from the Keys to the mainland. Our run was in a marine route known as Hawk Channel and running to the West we passed Hawks Cay, Marathon and scores of small islands before reaching the end of the Keys and the lighthouse denoting the southernmost point in the US. Around the bend would take us past the Navy Base and a promenade where gawkers come daily to the carni atmosphere for great sunsets with island drinks. Tonight it is a walk down Duval Street in search of some conch food - named for the locals who have taken on the titles of Conchs after the critters who make the large pink shells home. Yes, this is the Conch Republic teeming with Margaritaville crooners and every odd and end imaginable. We’ve docked at the Key West Bight marina next to the glass bottom tour boat, meaning that early mornings are filled with tourists out to get a look at one of the spectacular reefs that surround the Keys. Sunday will come soon enough and we’ll clean-up, pack and head back for a week’s work before heading North, this time along the western shore of Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico, home to some of the more notorious hurricanes to hit our shores. Happy Sails!

America’s WETLAND Foundation Senior Advisor Sidney Coffee and Women of the Storm Founder Anne Milling following a planning meeting in New Orleans for events surrounding the opening of the 2009 Hurricane Season.

We hope all had a wonderful Easter Weekend and now on to the next week. A boat is a complicated machine and on older boats like this old lady….well….
This morning is about the auto pilot that gave us a bit of a fit on the first leg. Steve Jahn from Motion Marine in Islamorada, FL, is on board checking out the wiring this morning before we head out further next weekend. Piloting the boat doesn’t require the autopilot but it sure is a comfort on long runs and in stormy weather. There are a few parts beyond the usual wires that snake all over the place. We’ve isolated the problem either in the brain of the system or in the handheld device which allows for either manual or auto piloting of the vessel. Other weekly chores include checking engine fluids, cleaning, re-stocking for the humans and dogs and did I say cleaning? Because of wireless technology, we can also work on board, as plans for the big events in Louisiana on May 30-31 are in high gear. We’ll catch back up with you on Friday as we move on to the southernmost point in the U.S., Key West. Happy Sails!

It is Good Friday and had fish on the mind so buzzed over to the Theater of the Sea in Islamorada, Florida.

It’s well worth the $25 for admission to see the joy on the kids’ faces as the come cheek to cheek with sea creatures.
It is also a place that, while entertaining, spices the script with conservation and environmental messages. This is a much less commercial venue than most and you get the feel of the Keys in the pathways overhung with native flora, including a vibrant display or orchids. The Dolphins are the usual big hit flipping, jumping, and singing, all the while being well supplied with shrimp by the young handlers. Young and old alike can swim here with Dolphins, Rays and Sea Lions but you pay extra and are sequestered in special pools away from the throngs.
One extraordinary sight were the giant sea turtles nibbling on the vegetation and sunning.
Before the entertainment, it was the routine mechanical work on the Storm Rider: weather stripping windows, waxing the deck and fixing a battery malfunction, so all will be ship shape for the run to Key West next weekend, a delay due to crowded docks due to an international fishing tournament. Tomorrow it is off to the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, America’s first undersea park and one of the natural wonders of the grand reefs the run down the Keys. We’ll try to get in some snorkeling around the reef, www.johnpennekamppark.com. We hope everyone’s Easter weekend will be joyful. Happy sails!

04.10.09 - Memories of the day

ENDING OF A GREAT DAY!!