Junk Raft Departing for Hawaii

Monday 2/6/08

Our current position: 1610 PST, Lat: 33 07.00N, Long: 118 30.65W, heading 280 at 2 knots w/ Junk in tow.

As I’m sure most of our readership is aware the raft Junk was ceremoniously launched from Rainbow Harbor, Long Beach yesterday afternoon in front of a cheering crowd of well over a thousand, bound for Hawaii via the slowest method available. The Alguita was full up with 10 people traveling overnight to Avalon; Junk in tow, where the 60 Minutes Australia film crew, and two volunteers from Save Our Shores in Santa Cruz Emily and Aleah, who had come down to help out and be part of the event.

The large precession of friends and onlookers we had traveling with us as we departed rainbow harbor dwindled through yesterday afternoon and evening, by the morning it was just Alguita Junk and the Banyan, Jody Lemons Sailboat and the Junks escort for the first two hundred miles or so.

We will tow the raft through the night and up until tomorrow evening. By then hopefully we will be far enough from land for the prevailing winds to coming from a favorable direction, and then it’s a downhill ride for junk all the way to Hawaii.

In almost unrelated matters, The regular crew of Alguita (Charlie, Sam, and myself), spent the morning and early afternoon Saturday at the Newport Back-bay Science Center open house. For Anyone who lives in Orange County or more specifically anyone who lives in part of its highly developed watershed this is an important place, helping to both educate the public and conduct long term monitoring as well as restoration of the natural lands left in that area.

The Picture is of the Junk under tow with Rainbow Harbor in the background, you can also see the Banyan, the green sailboat that is behind Junk

-Jeff

JUNK on ABC:Channel 7 news!

During the programming for "LOST", Junk got some great airtime on the 11:00 Channel 7 news!

Join JUNK! Tome parte en el JUNK!

Calling all Ship to Shore-ers!

We're getting ready to set sail on our next adventure across the ocean, this time in JUNK - a raft made from 15,000 plastic bottles!

Marcus and Joel, our two captains, will start their 6 week voyage this coming Sunday, from the Long Beach Aquarium all the way to Hawaii - over 2,000 miles...

Whats it like to spend 6 weeks on a raft at Sea? What if sharks like plastic bottes? How will they cook meals every day? What happens if theres a storm?

You can ask them these kinds of questions, and anything else you're curious about right here on the blog - they will answer you from the middle of the Pacific Ocean!

Atencion estudiantes Ship to Shore!

Estamos preparando zarpar – en a proxima aventura por el mar pacifico – esta vez en una vela construida de 15,000 botellas de plastico!

Los dos capitanes Marcus y Joel van a comenzar su viaje de 6 semanas el domingo que viene, del Long Beach Aquarium hasta Hawaii, mas de 2,000 millas...

Como es pasar 6 semanas en una balsa en el mar? Que pasa si los tiburones les gustan las botellas plasticas? Como van a preparar la comida cada dia? Y si hay una tormenta?

Usteded pueden preguntarles todas esas preguntas aca mismo en el blog – ellos les contestan desde el medio del mar!

Students helping to build Junk

Junk is beginning to take shape! Thanks to the incredible help of Samohi's Team Marine and the Environmental Charter High School's Green Ambassadors, we'll have our first few pontoons built by the end of the week.
















Here's the "mock up" above, the skeleton of what Junk will look like - aluminum shipping masts lashed together to create a massive, recycled foundation.
















The frame will perch atop 4, 30-foot long pontoons made out of plastic bottles and derelict fishing net, collected from Port Townsend, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, and possibly New Orleans in a few weeks.....



Each pontoon provides roughly 2,000 pounds of buoyancy, adding up to 8,000 pounds total - more than enough to carry our two lean sailors, the airplane fuselage they'll live in for 6 weeks, a ton of supplies, and just enough chocolate to keep Marcus fueled.
















Here are some Green Ambassadors getting busy with bottles after school - washing, de-labeling, making sure caps are super tight, and laying in a trough lined with derelict fishing net.

Junk in Treehugger

One of our favorite green rags, Treehugger, wrote a nice piece here on Junk last week.

With one correction - while we were 6 on the ORV Alguita's January Gyre crossing, there will only be two intrepid sailors on this voyage, Marcus Eriksen and Joel Paschal. The nature of this undertaking calls for a light, tight crew.


Anna Cummins will be maintaining PR and blog from land, and praying for Junk's speedy return.

From the comments on the Treehugger post, it seems there is still quite a bit of confusion about the size of the Gyre (twice the size of Texas, the US, or the Moon?) as well as the feasibility of cleanup. There has been an explosion of recent press about the Gyre, and with it, many myths are perpetuated.

This is part of our mission: to debunk the many urban legends floating around, and to bring people the straight junk, so we can stop junk at the source.

Next Voyage: Message in a Bottle

Building on the tremendous momentum of our recent voyage across the North Pacific Gyre, The Algalita Marine Research Foundation is planning another epic sailing journey from Los Angeles back to Hawaii....


On a raft built of 20,000 plastic bottles.

The brainchild of Dr. Marcus Eriksen, Algalita's research and education director, the 3,000 mile journey will bring awareness to the issue of plastic marine debris. Dr. Eriksen will design and build the raft, with the help of Joel Paschal and Anna Cummins. Joel will join Marcus on board, helping guide the craft to Hawaii, while Anna provides ground support....from the safety of her terrestrial home base. The three are also inviting participating from local business sponsors, and school communities.




Though undoubtedly an ambitious undertaking, the voyage is in good hands - Dr. Eriksen has a long history of experience building recycled bottle boats. In 2003, honoring a pledge he made to a fellow marine during the Persian Gulf War, Marcus built a raft out of 232 2 liter plastic bottles and sailed down the entire Mississippi River


This spawned the construction of numerous seaworthy bottle crafts:



Fluke, built with students from the Environmental Charter High School, sailed from Santa Barbara to San Diego raising ocean awareness along the way;





The Cola Kayak, also built with ECHS students rafted down the LA River;





The Plastic Poison, built in Juneau Alaska with partner organization Turning the Tide;








And the Potomac Attack - built with students participating in the Weather Channel's Forecast Earth summit, paddled across the Potomac River.









WE NEED YOU ON BOARD!
Just as with these previous journeys, Message in a Bottle will need active participation from school communities and business sponsors. For information on how to get involved, or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities, contact Marcus: 323-295-1843, or Anna: 310-998-8616


With Algalita's experience researching plastic marine debris, and Eriksen's experience building "junks", this mission promises to bring the plastic debris issue to new audiences, and continue engaging the public in solutions to this timely issue.