Friday, July 31, 2009

Day 52 Land Ho!!!

July 31st 9am Coordinates: 21 15.57N, 158 04.07W

Land Ho!

We made it-51 days and 6,890 miles logged! We’re about an hour into landfall and were welcomed by the warm, still sunshine of the islands. The morning has been a bit hectic-we pulled into Ko’olina Harbor on the southwest side of Oahu with an hour and a half to spare before Christiana’s flight to the mainland. We are in the process of fueling up now and then we’ll motor our way 15 miles or so eastward to Kewalo Basin, where the Alguita will be slipped for the next several weeks as she is prepared for the 2nd leg of the voyage-the 10 year resample of our 1999 sample locations on a course from Oahu back to Long Beach.

The next few days will be spent decompressing and taking care of business. Drew will be heading back to the North Shore with his wife, Jaime, while the rest of us stick to the Honolulu area. We will be attending the Hawai’i Conservation Conference open house at ING Café on Saturday August 1st, hosting a potluck with the help of Surfrider aboard the Alguita on Sunday the 2nd (hopefully the boat will be sufficiently aired out from the 7 weeks of sea-funk-mold, mildew, and the wonderful aromas associated with 6 people in close quarters) and topping it off with a “open boat” on Monday the 3rd from 10am-12pm giving the public and press a chance to share in our research.

Update on the missile hot zone: Pheonix 1 wasn’t lying. Out on the back deck, eating cheesecake and watching our last sunset of the trip together, Christiana looked through a gap in the cloudy sky and said as a bit of an afterthought, “Wow, that looks a lot like a missile trail….” And sure enough it was. Off the port stern, there was a distinct missile trail heading to into the west. We were happy to be far enough from the launch to see the action and not feel it.

Thanks to everyone who has been following along on our journey! It’s been a unique and powerful experience for us all. Stayed tuned for a couple blog posts during the next week or so: there will be more pictures (they’ll be a lot cheaper to post and in much higher resolution now that we’re back on land) and personal accounts from the Captain and each of the crew members on our 7-week adventure.

Aloha from the Oahu,
Nicole

12 comments:

Linda A said...

WELCOME BACK TO LAND AND CONGRATULATIONS FOR A JOB WELL DONE!!!

Linda A (Joel's Mom)

Brian Hayes said...

I celebrate your safe return and treasure your science. Thank you all.

Patsy said...

Your work connects us all! We are working on a Bottle Bill here in Texas to help clean the waterways you travel in! Keep the data coming! Any plastic water bottles out there?????

theplasticocean.blogspot.com said...

Welcome back! I look forward to hearing the rest of the story. Just thought I'd let you know your images came thru beautifully while you were out at sea. Thanks for taking us all along!

theplasticocean.blogspot.com said...

Welcome back! I look forward to reading the rest of the story. Your images came thru beautifully while you were out at sea. Thanks for the opportunity to experience it vicariously.

theplasticocean.blogspot.com said...

Welcome back! I look forward to reading the rest of the story. Your images came thru beautifully while you were out at sea. Thanks for the opportunity to experience it vicariously.

Jennifer G (a supporter) said...

Congratulations! We are counting on your research to shed light on this tragic human waste problem. Now is the time to bring our nation's attention to this international problem. Good luck with the rest of the trip!

Jamie Welsh Watson said...

Glad you guys made it safe and can relax for awhile! Looking forward to following your future journeys.

srchief said...

It is an amazing experience being at sea so long but, it feels so good to touch land when it is finally over. Welcome back to dry land. Looking forward to your receiving the local press. Be sure to publicize what local TV station might show up so we can find their web site to watch.

Azura Skye said...

Well done!
I am so inspired by your work, and the job you do of spreading the word about plastic.
You have inspired me to use much much less, if any, plastic.
Thank you for letting the truth out about our oceans.

Azura Skye

Fetch'emCatch'em said...

http://www.mda.mil/mdaLink/pdf/09news0015.pdf

A news Release abou the missile test. Just for additional interest.

Tim Surfrider said...

Hey Crew, we are looking forward to the next part of your journey. I have been giving some seminars about the Alguita, and there are a lot of new friends getting all excited about your trip. Tim Touve, Surfrider Foundation