We made our way through the Cape Verdes and as the saying goes we turned West when the butter melted. As we keep watching the islands disappear against the crack ground of the raising sun, we realized that since our departure we have passed more trash in the ocean than ships and remember a comparison from World Waste Facts: if the Earth’s history is compared to a calendar year, we modern humans have existed for 23 minutes and already used 33% of the Earth’s natural resources in the last 0.2 seconds.
On Oyster Belle we harness the power of winds to make our way across the ocean, we produce our own fresh water out of seawater by means of reverse osmosis, we have solar panels and a water generator to produce electricity. But we are also very careful with our resources; we converted all light bulbs to LED where possible, we use a windvane to steer, we ration our water consumption, try to minimize any food waste, and optimize our sail plan to take us towards our destination. In total, this harsh maritime environment makes us realize more than ever that we can only survive in harmony with nature!
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