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

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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FLOTSAM Mark Chew FLOTSAM Mark Chew

APOLLONIA-Trailblazing or Tokenism?

“Yay rich people doing a totally non-scalable thing to make themselves feel better!”…. OR….. “The human race is doomed to destroy our home, but it's better to go out trying to effect positive change than to throw up our hands in embittered despair.”

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