Jon T. Howard - North Atlantic Gyre Blog #13

I arrived at the Haven Grande port in St. Thomas last night around 9:30 pm after leaving LA at 6:00 am. Needless to say it was a long day and four time time zones later I was finally at my destination. I was greeted on the Sea Dragon by Anna Cummins and Dr. Marcus Erikesen from 5Gyres.org with a cold beer and a warm meal which sure felt good. I was given a quick tour of the boat and then just did some unwinding after my day of travel. I woke up this morning January 5th, 2010 to a clear blue sky and 85 degrees. I had a great nights sleep being gently rocked on the boat but I know that won't be the norm once we hit the open ocean on the 7th. While I slept, the port filled up with huge cruise line ships and private luxury yachts from around the world and the Haven Grande Yacht area is bustling with tourists this morning. I have the morning off to get acclimated to the area while the crew gathers the last few things we need for our voyage and we wait for the rest of the people joining the adventure to arrive. I am currently nursing a large iced Americano at a local coffee shop called Bad Ass Coffee with Stiv Wilson from Wend Magazine (http://www.wendmag.com/). It is great to be working with such a cool group of people who really care about the environment and are trying to figure out ways to make things better. I am truly grateful for the opportunity that EcoUsable (http://www.ecousable.com/) has given me to be apart of this crew. Here is what I have learned so far... The Sea Dragon is nearly 100,000 pounds of wielded steel and has a zero class rating. It is capable of sailing during any conditions the weather and seas present and has been around the world twice. It began it's journey to St. Thomas out of the UK and went down through Cape Verde, Portugal, and Morocco before heading west to the Caribbean Islands. They are saying the first week should be warm and sunny but as we head further north the weather get much cooler and the winds will pick up. Once we set sail our global position will be posted via a GPS satelite on http://www.panexplore.com/. Until next time...

Jon T. Howard - North Atlantic Gyre Blog #5

It's been a few days since I last wrote due to the fact that I have been under the weather since early Tuesday morning. There has been a stomach flu bug going around for a while and it finally caught up with me. Being sick really does set you back that is one thing that is for sure. Now I feel like I have to catch up on everything I needed to due over the last 3 days. I started off Monday great and it went downhill from there. I had gone down and rode my bike 8 miles along Balboa Creek where it runs into the Pacific Ocean to shoot some video of the plastic accumulation after the first major storms. The most shocking thing wasn't how much plastic I saw but how much Styrofoam debris there was. After that I headed to EcoUsable and did some work and ended my day with a 3 mile run. Then the bug hit with full force. Sometimes you just have to give into it and rest so I did. Luckily I was feeling well enough to book my ticket to St. Thomas US Virgin Islands last night and I started making a list of equipment and clothes I will need. I am set to leave LA January 4th and arrive in Miami then catch a flight to the Virgin Islands. Everyone has been asked to arrive 2 days before departure so we can get acclimated and do emergency training. I can't believe it is now less than 3 weeks away! I have to go try on some Keen shoes today so I know my size and I am hopeful they will get me a pair as one of the sponsors. I also reached out to GoPro HD cameras to see if we can get a few cameras for the voyage to capture anything we happen to see in the best quality possible. Until next time...

Jon T. Howard - North Atlantic Gyre Blog #4

It's Monday and I know I have a bunch to do to get myself ready for the trip. I have been getting correspondence over the last few days from some of the others who are going on the adventure. So far I have heard from Leslie Moyer and Stiv Wilson. The funny thing is I only know Dr. Marcus Eriksen his wife Anna Cummins from my work with EcoUsable and now I am embarking on a voyage with 12 strangers on this voyage. One thing is certain we will all know each other much better after this trip. Marcus said they met with Pangaea the other night to get some of the details on the trip and conditions to anticipate. This is what I know so far... it's the North Atlantic Ocean in winter which sounds like it could be cold. Everyone is really excited about this adventure and we are all trying to work together sharing knowledge and gathering supplies. Stiv mentioned in an email that he is hoping to get the opportunity to swim with dolphins... wow I didn't even think about that but how cool will that be. I am certain I will experience things I never have and the biggest thing for me right now is preparation. I am reaching out to everyone I know for gear and sponsorship to insure I have everything I need to maximize the experience. Since I will be the resident musician on the trip, everyone is asking if I am bringing a guitar. Not sure on that one yet because of everything I may need to take but I will definitely take a ukelele to write with and keep me company out on the open ocean. As a matter of fact the crew are already requesting a song for me to learn so we can record an "eco" version. I always like challenges so I will give it my best shot. Well that's the word today....