Jon T. Howard - North Atlantic Gyre Blog #8

Christmas is just 2 days away as 2009 swiftly slips into the books of history. I haven't had time to really reflect much over the last year but all and all it has been a very busy one. I have traveled far and wide from Florida, Texas, Utah, Missouri, Memphis, Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego to Hawaii meeting new friends and learning more than I ever thought I would about the environment. I have been so fortunate to meet amazing people who are the leading forces in the world trying to change things for the better. Hence my involvement with Algalita via EcoUsable is part of that journey. I have spent the last few days reaching out to more possible sponsors and even with the holidays in full swing people are willing to help out as much as they are able. Witz Waterproof Cases www.witzprod.com are the latest to join the voyage saying they will provide me with some of their equipment to protect my cameras, electronics and paperwork which is great. I met the VP of Sales for Witz Chris Cannon earlier this year at the Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City and we have run into each other throughout 2009 at various events and trade shows so I am very happy to have Witz on board for the trip. I have also been working out fully again and I've really been concentrating on swimming. Monday I hit the pool for a 3/4 mile swim and yesterday I did another 1/2 mile. Last night I went to go see two friends of mine play some music in Venice at a place called The Stronhold. I hadn't seen Brett Dennen and Tom Freund since last years EcoGift Festival where we all played so it was good to see them both. Tom spent the year globe trotting the world opening for Ben Harper who produced his latest CD and Brett did the same. Brett's newest CD "Hope For The Hopeless" http://www.brettdennen.net/ is outstanding and worth checking out(I am listening to it right now)! He had a breakthrough 2009 touring all over the world and capped off the year with an appearance on the David Letterman Show a few months ago. I am hoping to do follow in their footsteps in 2010 when I release my CD "Turning Stones". Other than that I have been learning as much about the Pangaea Sea Dragon vessel as possible and have been watching video blogs to educate myself on what to expect. Here is a cool blog www.panexplore.com/vessel.php on the vessel that was made while they were converting it from a racing boat to a research boat. Until next time...