A 64-Foot Sailboat Takes on the Americas

If you live anywhere in the Americas – this story is for you and the place you call home.
A group of sailors, educators and scientists are doing something no one has ever done – they are taking a boat across the Oceans that surround our two magnificent continents.
The trip began in May when the ship, called the “Ocean Watch” set a Northerly course out of Seattle and began its climb to the upper reaches of North America. This week the crew is passing near South Florida, on its way to the Caribbean.
The scientifically-equipped sailboat will make 31 stopovers in 13 months to draw attention to the changing condition of the oceans. Reports of the “Around the Americas” voyage are made regularly on the crew’s website. Visitors can also ask questions directly to the crew.
The Around the Americas expedition is the first environmental project of its kind to take a scientifically focused look at the health of the world’s oceans and the impact of global climate change on local environments and ecosystems.
” This project is definitely an expedition for our times.  The health of our oceans is important to all of us, not just those who live by the sea,” says David Rockefeller, Jr., co-founder of Sailors for the Sea, which helped back the project. “Our food sources, our climate and even the air we breathe are dependent on the vast ocean systems.  Around the Americas will demonstrate both the current deterioration of the ocean condition and what we as individuals can do to reverse or at least slow the negative effects.”