The News, Culture and Practice of Sailing woodenboats
in Australia, New Zealand & The South Pacific.

ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew

Jobs, Fish and doing the right thing

But some things are just wrong, however many jobs they provide and however much money they make for their stakeholders. There’s a reason the whaling industry was shut down in Australia in the 1970’s. The same applies to the tobacco industry in the 2000’s (which at its height employed about the same amount of people as the Salmon industry does today.) Values change with time.

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ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew

A Happy Rat Story

“We’re very excited to see more native species now rats are no longer eating them. Seedlings of tamanu and puka are increasing and we’re seeing and hearing more birds. Wood pigeons and red-tailed tropic birds have returned to Home Islet. Crabs and lizards appear to be more abundant.”

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ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew

Robbing A Bank When No One’s Looking

Why should anyone care about the disappearance of sharks in the Saya de Malha Bank?  Ernest Hemingway once described going bankrupt as something that happens gradually… and then suddenly. The extinction of species is like bankruptcy, and when it finally occurs, there’s no going back. If we keep draining the Bank of one of its most previous riches, a “sudden” reckoning may be soon.

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ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew

An Interruption

In the realm of environmental activism, innovation often springs from the simplest ideas. Samuel McLennan, the founder of Project Interrupt, epitomises this ethos. His ambitious project involves sailing a raft up the coast of Australia, constructed entirely from waste materials collected from Tasmania's shores.

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ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew

When Boats and Mammals collide.

According to the most recent data from the Marine strike log maintained by the MMAG, over 50% of all collisions reported result in damage to either the vessel and/or its crew, as well as possible injury or death to marine life.

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ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew

Counter Catastro-phising

The agreement was groundbreaking in its ambition. It led to the near-total cessation of whaling activities, with a few notable exceptions , and has contributed to the resurgence of many whale species, including the largest animal on Earth, the blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus

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ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew

Going Green, Gone Wrong

Preliminary information from the Blue Schooner Company suggests the vessel was hit by a “sudden and violent” storm, causing it to capsize and sink. Survivors reported donning survival suits and boarding life rafts as the vessel began to sink.

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ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew

‘Once it’s gone, it’s gone’: the last coracle fishers

But like his fellow netsmen, Len Walters remains gloomy about what the future holds. “If you take away the right to fish, you’ll no longer have people making coracles,” he says. “And it’s such an amazing way to fish. All feel. No engines, no noises, just the skill of two boys in a coracle. And it’s sad because once it’s gone, it’s gone. It’ll never come back.”

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ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew

Very Precious Plastic

All these hands coming together to realise a vision, a common purpose, aspiring for a better world- this is what success looks like. This is what hope looks like. Not passive hope, but hope from action.

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FILM Mark Chew FILM Mark Chew

Dispatches from The Outlaw Ocean

The oceans are typically and correctly viewed as a marine habitat. But they are much more than that. They are a workplace, a metaphor, an escape, a prison, a grocery store, a trash can, a cemetery, a bonanza, a tinderbox, an organ, a highway, a depot, a window, an emergency, and, above all, an opportunity

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ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew

20% Less Fuel?

Their research showed that the Seawing would have a pulling power of up to 100 tons meaning it can contribute to propulsion for a ship of over 200,000 tons and over 1,000 feet in length. They project fuel savings on average of 20 percent by deploying the kite sail.

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ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew ENVIRONMENT Mark Chew

‘It’s a little bit of utopia’

Olivier Barreau and his twin brother, Jacques, are part of a small but growing number of entrepreneurs who are grappling with the problem of how to transport goods across the globe at a scale that makes economic sense, without further damaging the planet.

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