Evening All,
Well today was a day of relaxing yet again. I still can’t get over the fact that I feel more rested at sea now then the whole of the 6 months before I left. There were no gybes necessary so all I did today sailing wise was to unfurl a little extra jib when the winds were light and then furled it back up again once they built. I have also been doing some sail trimming as the winds have shifted around quite a bit.
I started in a W wind, veered to the NE of all places and has now backed to the WNW direction where it should stay for most of the night, winds around 20-30 knots with 15 knots in the lulls. Bob McDavitt from METBob still has me sailing NE until I hit 50 S and then I can go directly east. I can also expect the swell to ease up a bit and will spend a fair amount of the next few days doing maintenance around the boat.
I am still struggling with the clocks going forward. I don’t really feel like sleeping until usually after midnight, so to make sure I am completely rested I have normally been getting up at 5am doing a boat check, jumping straight back to bed until 9am. From there if I am still feeling tired I might go for a sleep that afternoon as well. It has worked great and I am well rested but it doesn’t help me adjust to the time changes.
Aside from my sleeping habit's the conditions haven’t been the best for topping up the batteries so I have remained in a minimum power usage state all day. I am increasing the charge just very slowly.
Given that there isn’t much more you need to know about today I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight once again the message behind my trip, the reason for the name of the boat and what the colourful post it notes on the hull mean.
Over my many years sailing I have noticed an ever increasingly amount of pollution in the sea. I once saw a bird in the middle of the Southern Ocean taking a break on top of a Styrofoam box!!! I was over 2,000 nm from the nearest land in the most untouched parts of the world and yet here was rubbish. I believe circumnavigation around Antarctica gets harder every year as the weather patterns have become more aggressive, unpredictable and there is the risk of more ice in the sea.
So I decided that I would always use my journey to promote climate action for the positive. Throughout my sailing and trying to get this campaign together I have embraced the message 'Climate Action Now'. I know that there are plenty of educational foundations that can inform you on what is really happening. I am not interested in the debate as to how or why the fact is that the way we live damages our home and if we want a future we need to take Climate Action Now.
After a brainstorming session with my family we came up with this post it notes idea. Post it's are a traditional way of leaving a note for someone and I felt that this would be a great way to have a stance on Climate Action Now and hopefully inspire others to make a change.
I asked members in the community to donate notes. Messages on to my boat. Each note featured an action from them that they are already taking towards a better future. I didn’t need or want these to be life changing actions but things that every day people are doing in there every day life that help towards preserving our way of life.
These were messages like
'I walk my kids to school even in the rain for Climate Action'
'I turn off the lights for Climate Action'
'I installed solar on the roof for Climate Action'
'I use a keep cup for Climate Action'
I was bought up in the rain forest and we were off the grid when it came to power. We had a rule in our house, you had one light each. You used it when you were in one room and if you moved you switched that one off and put the next one on in your new space. We were on solar power back in the 90’s and it was not as advanced as it is today. We had limited power but I do not remember missing out or it being difficult. Not too different to life on a boat…..just much more conscious of your actions.
Every little change we make in our day-to-day life helps to create a positive future. If you have 1 million people turning off unused lights, we have created an impact. The trick is realizing that it all starts with you.
Anyway, the messages started flooding in. It is awe-inspiring to see so many regular people taking action. Soon we had so many messages we could cover the boat in them. My wonderful sister, Shelley. designed the wrap that went on the hull. A louder than life message to the community to take action. It looks fantastic and really stands out in a crowd and most importantly keeps the conversation moving forward on Climate Action Now.
My sister Shelley Blair designing the Post it Notes into a wrap for my boat.
I also made the formal name change of my boat from 'funnel-web' to 'Climate Action Now' and was honoured to have Dick Smith pour the champagne on the bow at her official re-naming ceremony. Dick is a long-time supporter of sustainability and is also very passionate about the population crisis. If you are after a good and educational read pick up a copy of his book titled Population Crisis.
Dick Smith Officially Renaming my Yacht Climate Action Now!
As this campaign has developed so has the message and the meaning behind my circumnavigation around Antarctica. I am now no longer just one girl sailing around the ice, I am sailing with the voice of the community.
I am taking your actions and your messages around Antarctica and hopefully we can use this opportunity to share our actions and inspire others to take Climate Action Now. From now on each blog will begin with someone's action or post it note that I have received. Please share these around so we can start a movement of messages and inspire more people in the community to take Climate Action Now.
If you 'missed the boat' so to speak, we would love you to go to my website and add a climate action message. I have great plans and will be doing other trips/records once I have been successful with this one…… so send me your actions and they will one day in the future make it on to my yacht Climate Action Now.
