JUNKRAFT

On June 20th a band of merry cyclist met at the Santa Monica Pier to begin a 70-mile ride.  First stop for bagels and coffee was at the Ballona Institute.  We met Nick Karno, Deputy City Attorney for Los Angeles, who spoke about the issue of plastic debris in the Ballona Wetlands and Los Angeles communities.

Our ride continued to Redondo Beach where we met up with a couple dozen cyclists and our friend and professional cyclist, Tony Cruz.  The pack headed uphill through Rancho Palos Verdes, descending into Long Beach to celebrate International Surf Day in Marine Park.  There we were greeted by Brett Beck and 3rd District Councilman Gary DeLong.

Anna spoke briefly about the issue of plastics and handed Councilman DeLong a sample of the plastic soup from the North Pacific Gyre.  We hung around for an hour talking with many wonderful people, including staff and volunteers of our organization, the Algalita Marine Research Foundation.  Many familiar faces were present to welcome us home.

Though we’re not done yet.  By 1:00pm we were back on our bicycles heading south. There are 116 miles between Long Beach and the border of Mexico.

Our website has sadly been hacked into somehow, so we’ve been unable to update our blog. Recently posted an update on my Bring Your Own site, which I’m importing here. Soon we’ll repost a summary of the last few weeks. We’re just a few days away from the Tijuana River!

we’ve had some amazing adventures - had our JUNKraft displayed on the steps of the Sacramento Capitol, visited a bunch of legislators to discuss marine debris legislation, met the Mayor of San Francisco, built a zero waste plastic bottle boat in Tiburon, gave a bunch of presentations, met with a group of powerful leaders at Google for an epic plastic brainstorming session, and in between, recharged for a few days in Sonoma/Napa, climbing some killer ascents and wine tasting as a reward.

While we’re sorting our our JUNKride site issues, a quick photo recap of the last few weeks here.

After a wonderful, HOT few days in Chico, where we stayed with the GRUB collective and gave a small talk at the University, we slogged our way to Sacramento - a looong, hot, flat ride, to find JUNKraft diplayed on the front steps of the State Capitol, front and center!

Then on to San Francisco via Napa/Sonoma, relishing in the Elysian fields….here we were treated to some incredible hospitality by Richard Martin of Versant Vineyards. After a grueling hill, Richard greeted us with a phenomenal bottle of his own wine, fed us homemade risotto, grilled asparagus, and a mixed green salad with goat cheese, and gave us a tour of the grounds.

In San Francisco, we gave a talk with Green Sangha at the Marin Recycling Center, followed by a talk at The Aquarium of the Bay with Surfrider. Both had great turnouts, with energized crowds that we’ve heard have run with the momentum, and begun organizing follow up events. Exactly what we’d hope for.

Some highlights in the Bay:

Presenting Mayor Gavin Newsome with a gyre sample, and having a chance to share Algalita’s research with our next potential California Governor!

Meeting David De Rothschild from Plastiki, chatting about our respective projects, and presenting him with a plastic bottle from JUNKraft: We hope to return for Plastiki’s launch, and bid the crew fair winds:

Touring the grounds of the Marin Recycling Center, run by local hero Joe Garbarino. Joe has employed some simple, yet time tested recycling methods, like bringing in pigs, chickens, and peacocks (!)  to recycle food waste into compost. The creatures also provide a bit of joy and playfulness to the place, lifting everyone’s spirits.

Joe confirmed what we’ve heard from other recycling centers about where our plastic waste truly goes: either right back to the landfill, like these plastic bags here, or shipped off to China in huge bales. What happens to it next?                            

And finally, building a zero waste plastic bottle barge at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center, with a ton of help from Erin Blackwood, who rounded up a bunch of junk materials for us.

A group of enthused youngters helped finish the boat, launch it in the water, and test its seaworthiness….it worked! Marcus spent the next hour giving boat rides to the kids, who eagerly jumped aboard, while others picked up trash on the beach. All in all, a tremendous success.

We’re now in Santa Cruz, preparing for our next talk in a few hours with Save Our Shores. Tomorrow, we head for Monterey for a series of talks, with the Monterey Institute, MBARI, a local school, and a brown bag for the Monterey Bay Aquarium staff. More updates to come here while we pray for our blog to reappear.

May 10th, Arcata CA
Marcus here. Anna’s always riding ahead of me.  I like to think it’s because I’m playing Mr. Safety taking up the rear, but the truth is that she’s a stronger cyclist.  I catch up on the downhill thanks to the momentum I throw around. We’re hustling from town to town making our way through Oregon to Arcata, California before we turn inland over the mountains.  Surfrider Charlie Plybon in Newport whipped out his rolodex of surfers and observers he knows down the coast, giving us a place to crash every 40 miles.  On May 2nd we hit the 101 against a fierce headwind.  We’re giving a talk at the public library in Port Orford.
We meet Leesa, Alisha and Briana, who work for POORT - the Port Orford Ocean Research Team. We give our talk, enjoy a great barbeque dinner, sleep soundly and rise early for a tour of Port Orford.
“There are no boats in the water,” I say to Alisha.  This is one of the few ports that plucks it’s commercial fleet out of the water after every trawl.  Twice a day the fishermen drop into the sea to run their long lines and crab pots.  “No nets!” Alisha proudly declares.  Before working with POORT, she was an observer, hired by the state to join fishermen on their boats to monitor what they catch.  “Net’s account for the most bycatch,” she says, referring to the unwanted or protected fish that are caught and thrown away.  POORT is about public education and policy change.  One of their recent achievements is the creation of a marine reserve, which designates a “no catch” area along the coast.  Recently, at the Blue Visions Summit in Washington DC, POORT was acknowledged for their “Seaweed” efforts (what landlovers call “grassroots”) to sustain our seas.
After the tour, we’re off to Gold Beach, 30 miles away to stay with another observer, Sandy and her two dachshunds, Pebbles and Cinnamon.  “You guys ought to stay here tomorrow, there’s a storm on the way,” Sandy warns.  Her habit as an observer, watching fishermen on boats for a week at a time, is to keep up on the weather.  “I don’t think you’d get very far with a 70mph headwind.”  Over dinner she tells us about the challenges of observer work in Alaska and Oregon.  Being the lone woman monitoring fishermen at work on their own boat can be interesting  She’s dealt with rude curmudgeons and gentleman captains, all salty sailors with stories of the giants that got away and mountainous waves.  All seemed fanciful until one storm sent their boat rocking from side to side, horizontal at times, 40ft. waves crashing into the captains deck on top of the boat.  “That’s why I watch the weather,” she adds.
The next day we sit in the book store staring out the window at horizontal rain, road signs vibrating with each 50-70mph gust, an the windows and walls vibrating.  This is the Pacific Northwest.
Gold Beach to Brookings, to Crescent City, crossing into California, to Klamath, and into redwood forests. The road from Klamath veered off the 101 through the Prairie Creek Redwood Forest winding among millennia-old trees, in and out of sun.  It’s warmth descending between clouds and through a skyscraper canopy.  These trees are massive monuments to living resilience. I enter the forest bummed about my sore body from the waist down, and exit with a Cheshire grin.  It’s impossible not to be awestruck.  The coastline opens again at Patrick’s Point near Trinidad.  Anna and I sit on Wedding Rock, thinking of our own to come.

Trinidad, California is a town of 311 sitting atop a bluff overlooking the ocean.  On the morning of May 8th I slowly roll out of bed, knowing I’ve got a couple of hours till we visit Trinidad Elementary.  Anna’s already up and ready to put in an hour of internet time at the WiFi coffeehouse across the street.  At 9:30 we meet 120 K-8 students in the cafeteria.  There are paper cutouts of fish and seashells hanging from the ceiling, in preparation for the ocean dance tonight.  After out talk, we visit a couple of classrooms to show a few students the regurgitated remains of a albatross bolus from Midway Atoll filled with plastic fragments.  “Let’s sing them a song,” one student yells.  We’ve never seen students so eager to sing, but they belt out a loud and harmonious version of Santana’s “You’ve Got to Change Your Evil Ways”, but “ways” is pronounced “Waste”, and the lyrics match the theme of ocean pollution.
From Trinidad Elementary it’s another 16 miles to Humbolt University, where we give a talk to the local Surfrider Chapter in Arcata.  After a day of rest we head out on Hwy 299 for an uphill climb over the coastal range.  We’re due in Chico and Sacramento next week.

It’s 10am Earth Day in Portland, we’re sipping coffee, and I’m wondering if we’re ever gonna hit the road.  There are 35 miles between here and Salem, the capitol of Oregon, and Willamette University, where the Straub Environmental Learning Center has invited us to speak.  But I’m moving like molasses riding high on last night’s delivery of a gyre sample into the hands of Portland’s mayor, Sam Adams.  “We should get going,” Anna says.  I’m usually the one dragging.
A few miles outside of Portland on the 99W, suburban sprawl gives way to horses, llamas, cattle and open pastures.  Clear skies, rolling hills and a wide shoulder, make for joyful cycling.  We arrive in Salem, over the Willamette River, onto campus, throw our bikes on the stage and plug in my laptop with 5 minutes to spare.  It goes smoothly.  James and Jackie are near the front row.  They cycled to our talk from the family farm three miles away.

Lotta Lammas

When it’s over, James and Jackie lead the way, riding back to their place, past the horses, goats and llamas, to a quiet ranch house for a bottle of vino and a spare room to spend the night.  We talk trash for good while.  “You look around our kitchen and you see it’s difficult to have everything you want without some plastic on it somewhere,” Jackie concedes.  She’s right.  Even the cork isn’t cork anymore.  Talk about garbage segues into a conversation about sustainability.
James Santana, community developer for Pringle Creek, describes the community he’s helping to build from the ground up on reclaimed land. “When we talk about smart living, we have to think about everything we consume, were it comes from and where it goes,” he explains. The whole place is built thoughtfully, from porous streets to energy efficient homes.  “Pringle Creek is a good example of designing a neighborhood that can sustain itself and the nature around it for many generations.”

Anna relaxing on the ranch

The next day, James takes on the task of getting our bikes in order.  He’s been down the coast on a bicycle before, from Oregon to Tijuana.  He crossed the border and turned left to El Paso.  “There’s a 120 mile stretch of only desert in Mexico with no water or shade.”  (This points out how our ride down the west coast is different.  I mean, right now, as I write this, I’m sitting in a coffee shop sucking down a mocha and munching on a muffin.) James completely disassembles my rear wheel in order to balance spokes and grease bearings.  He adjusst brakes and derailleurs on both bikes, while Anna and I sequester ourselves to couches with computers.

James delightfully adjusting our bikes, THANKS!

In the morning we’re grateful for a smooth ride to Corvallis University 35 miles through farmland.  Every baby cow, horse, sheep or goat gets a “That’s so cute,” response from Anna.  And I encourage it by pointing out the ones she missed.  We make great time, averaging 13 mph, then haul our bicycles into the Agriculture building on the campus of Oregon State University for a 3pm talk.  Afterward Sandra, our wonderful host tonight, leads us to a pub across the street.

More talk about trash.  “You know, I’ve never seen beer or wine in plastic bottles.  Could you imagine a plastic bottle of wine?” Sandra says.  Switching from plastic back to glass will not be difficult, or expensive.  It’s just a smart thing to do.  Sandra is also a cyclist, having toured on a tandem bike from Washington D.C. south to Florida, west to San Diego, and north to Oregon.  She gives us practical advice about seats, after the conversation turns to that status of my posterior due to my unfortunate resistance to spandex padded bike shorts. The talk of my condition thankfully ends when we break out the homemade pie.

Mmmmmm.

It’s now the morning of April 26th and we’re saddling up for a long day across the coastal range from Corvallis to Newport, 60 miles to the sea.  From Corvallis the trek is uphill on Hwy 20 all the way to Blodgett.  “Let’s get off the highway,” Anna suggests.  Winding roads take us north into the hills.  We walk the bikes over a few steep gravel summits.  Scars from clear-cut logging must look like a quilt of green and brown patches from space.  Strangely, Anna spots a busted TV awkwardly set on a stump by the roadside.  Rain comes and goes, taking a balmy 70 degrees in sunshine down to a windy 45.  Six hours after leaving Hwy 20, we return to it, but with only 6 miles to Newport.

Duh...

“Do you think there’s a bike shop in town?” I begrudgingly ask Anna.  She knows that I know that I should have bought bike shorts in Corvallis.  Our JUNK RIDE can reasonably be called JUNK RAW.  Pedaling around the last curve before the “Welcome to Newport,” sign, the ocean opens up with a brilliant reflection of the setting sun.  Looking down from the bridge over Yaquina Bay the receding tide unveils giant mudflats in the shadow of enormous waves.  The local Surfrider Chapter has invited us here.  “I can’t imagine surfing in that,” I say to Anna.  She can.  We end our ride at the Rogue Brewery after 59 miles over the coastal range.  We sit with friends to enjoy a local brew.  I stand.

Councilman Strom Peterson is the owner of Resident Cheesemonger in downtown Edmonds.

Strom Peterson is a new councilmember eager to see his city make its mark in the State of Washington as community responding responsibly to the latest research in the environmental sciences.  Plastic bags are high on Councilman Peterson’s list of issues to tackle.  He invited us to the Edmonds City Council on the day we ride into town.  At 7pm Anna and I stand before the city council presenting our gyre sample and string of plastics pulled from an albatross skeleton.  In our brief powerpoint presentation we showed slides of the environmental impact, including a plastic bag hanging out of the back end of a green turtle.  “This is the impact of our plastic waste on the world,” Anna explained.

What we know is that 44% of the world’s total seabird species have been found with plastic in or around their bodies, 22 species of cetaceans, all marine sea turtles and a fast-growing list of fish.  That list of fish illuminates the human health issue.  The Algalita Marine Research Foundation has found high levels of PCBs, pesticides and PAHs, from the incomplete burning of fossil fuels, absorbed and adsorbed onto particles of plastic.  We also found those same plastic fragments inside the stomachs of 1/3 of the 600 fish we sampled last Spring. And during the JUNKraft expedition, we caught a Rainbow Runner, which you might find in restaurants and fish markets, with a stomach filled with plastic.

Do these plastic particles desorb into the tissues and organs of food we eat?  This is what the Algalita Marine Research Foundation aims to find out.  Current research shows that some organic pollutants do, like PCBs migrating from ingested plastic into the organs of albatross, and other pollutants migrating into the tissues of benthic worms.  This is the human health component that we fear.  Plastic waste is proving to be a transport mechanism for persistent organic pollutants to enter marine food webs.

Strom Peterson argued persuasively about the need to take action to circumvent the trashing of our oceans, and ultimately ourselves. Anna and I are grateful that he gave us a chance to share the facts with Edmonds.  And a sample of cheese from his family cheese shop.

This week’s New Yorker issue features an article on David De Rothschild and the Plastiki Voyage. In writing the article, the journalist (naturally) called Marcus to fact check a bit on our JUNKraft project, a similar voyage with a similar mission. We were extremely disappointed with the portrayal of JUNK - downplayed as an “adventure project” on a raft quickly thrown together with junk. We only have to look to our thousands upon thousands of comments from touched readers, our coverage on channels like Martha Stewart and Good Morning America, and the outpouring of interest from legislators and media to know our project was a success. Here’s a response from Marcus.

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Far from an adventure story, our expedition on 15,000 plastic bottles floating across the Pacific is to “End the Age of Throw Away Plastic.” John Colapinto’s article about the Plastiki sadly ignores the issue at hand and ridicules what the JUNKraft crew accomplished.  The New Yorker had an opportunity to present a meaningful dialogue about the global distribution of plastic waste across the world’s oceans, yet chose a tabloid-esque drama to report.  Here’s what your readers lost.

I want my fellow Americans to understand the true life cycle of our plastic trash.  Our “Throw Away” society produces 120 billion pounds of plastic in the U.S. alone, and recovers less than 5%.  That recovered post-consumer plastic waste (bottles, caps, bags, straws, etc…)  is not typically recycled in our country.  I recently visited America’s greatest landfill in Puente Hills, California.  Of the 1300 tons of trash they receive daily, they recover plenty of plastic, but when asked, “Where does it go?” the reply was, “China.”   On top of that, we lose much of our plastic waste out to sea.  The JUNKraft expedition was my third time visiting the Eastern Garbage Patch.  I’ve had the privilege of working with Captain Charles Moore to see first-hand the rapid accumulation of plastics in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as far from land as you can get in the world.  We found fish full of plastic. Years earlier I had pulled hundreds of bottle caps, lighters and toothbrushes out of the carcasses of Laysan Albatross on Midway Atoll. The environmental costs are enormous, and then there’s human health.

On the JUNKraft expedition, as our food reserves dwindled, we caught fish, specifically a Rainbow Runner.  Joel Paschal, co-navigator, and I discovered their stomachs filled with plastics. We know that plastic as sea is a sponge for pollutants, like DDT, other pesticides, PCBs, and PAHs, from the incomplete burning of fossil fuels.  Ingested plastic carries these toxins into the food that we harvest, and you and I eat.  I don’t want garbage accumulating in my body from what’s on my dinner plate.  I don’t want these synthetic compounds accumulating in my tissues and organs, or the bodies of my family, or my future children.

Anna Cummins, my fiancé and partner in the JUNKraft project, will soon conduct her own body burden analysis. It is sad that every American currently carries a body burden of synthetic chemicals in his or her tissues and organs. Anna and I about to embark on a 2000-mile cycling/speaking tour about plastic waste down the west coast of North America, called JUNKride.  Somewhere along the way we will marry, and someday start a family. It is a sad note that the surest way to unload your toxic load is to give it to your newborn child through breastmilk. We are terrified of this, as every American should be.  The true lifecycle of throw-away plastic is that it is to wasteful to value.

When I talk about the entire lifecycle, I need to include the raw material for plastic, which we all know is petroleum.  In 1991, as a U.S. Marine, I stood in the desert outside Kuwait City covered with oil falling from burning wells.  I understand very well the price average Americans pay for our ‘written policies to go war to secure access to the energy reserves of the Persian Gulf’ (I’m quoting James Baker here, former U.S. Secretary of State).  This is the beginning of the lifecycle of plastic.  Then we create billions of pounds of plastic and distribute it around the world, knowing that recovery and recycling are largely inefficient, and knowing that the chemistry of plastic is bioactive in the marine environment and in our bodies.  This is the true cost of throw-away plastic on society, which we unknowingly pay so that we may have the convenience of throw-away plastics.  I truly believe that if every American understood lifecycle of plastic waste, then we as a nation would do the right thing.  My first bottle boat, “Bottle Rocket” built in 2003, carried me down the Mississippi River, where I rediscovered the beauty of my country and the goodness of us. With the right information, we make the right choices.

This is the full story of plastic, from its origin to its final resting place.  This is the information I gave to the New Yorker during the interview.  I’m sorry that it was ignored.  I have had the opportunity to talk with David de Rothschild several times.  David and I both understand that we independently came up with the idea for a raft named Plastiki.  JUNKraft was my 8th plastic boat, and the biggest so far.  Long before I had even heard of de Rothschild I had been telling everyone about my ultimate bottle boat.  David has the same story.  But we differ in our message.  David’s boat is an exploration of technical possibility.  JUNKraft is about cultural change, in response to the science of plastic marine debris.

Advocating more recycling as the solution to throw-away plastic is not going to solve the problem of trash accumulating in the world’s oceans.  Glass and metal are efficiently recyclable, but more importantly, are benign when lost.  They don’t really affect other living things.  Glass becomes sand, aluminum oxidizes, but plastic is bioactive and persists for years or decades.  The solution is not to simply advocate recycling of plastic waste, but to find alternatives to throw-away plastics: there is no such thing as away.  It makes no sense to us a non-biodegradable material designed to last forever, and make products from it designed to be thrown away.  The Age of Throw Away Plastic must end.

To the Platiki team, I wish you a safe journey ahead.  I know your expedition will highlight new technologies and perhaps bring new innovations to the table.  Best of luck, fair winds and following seas.

Marcus Eriksen, PhD
JUNKraft co-navigator

News of JUNK’s safe arrival in Honolulu travelled far and wide yesterday, including
a front page article on Hindu.com. Such are the wonders of the AP wire. How does if feel to set foot on land after 3 months on a plastic bottle raft, crossing the Pacific?

“We were surrounded by boats, blaring horns, waves and whistles, as JUNK was towed into Ala Wai Harbor in Honolulu. The first thing I did was reach for my fiancee, Anna. Captain Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation was there with a smile and a loud “Aloha”. Dr. Andrew Rossiter, director of the Waikiki Aquarium, presented us each with a handshake and a lei. There were perhaps 100 people there to greet us, including plenty of media representatives to cover our story, everyone asking, “Why did you do this,” or “Was it worth it?” If you’ve been following our blog, you know why. Yes, it was worth it. We would do it again.

I presented our last gyre sample from our marine debris trawl. In a glass peanut butter jar were hundreds of fragments of plastic and zooplankton floating around. “This is what you get when you skim the ocean surface. 2/3rds of the earth is ocean, and is now a plastic soup.” I also showed the shriveled stomach from the rainbow runner I caught a couple weeks ago, with 14 fragments of plastic in it’s stomach. This is why we crossed this ocean. Then we talked about what we do about it.

Anna and I were soon strolling along busy streets to find a market and restaurant for fresh greens. Anything green, or a red tomato would do. As we walked I paid attention to my experience. I expected wobbly legs and quick exhaustion. What I experienced was unexpected. We found a restaurant and shared a spinach and tomato salad. We walked slowly. I was just taking it all in. The novelty of the open ocean is different from rush hour Waikiki, the noise, sights, smells, and concrete beneath my feet. The best analogy would be a monk walking through a burning building. I was used to the subtle novelty of an empty horizon and bottomless sea that shows you a unique world, especially when you travel at 1.5 miles per hour for 2600 miles. So much of our planet is ocean, so little of it belongs to us, and perhaps none of it does.

Today, one day later, I carry my cell phone. I wear shoes. I check email. Anna and I walked to Ala Wai Harbor to meet Joel. By the end of the day JUNK is gone. We’ve undone 3 months of work in 24 hours. We will rebuild the raft on the front lawn of the Waikiki Aquarium. Then we’ll stuff JUNK in a shipping container and send it back to where it was built. It’s been six months from the day I sketched the image of JUNK on a piece of paper, to the raft built, sailed, and dismantled in Hawaii. My dream for 4 years has come to a new beginning.

JUNK has arrived safely, to a throng of cheering supporters, journalists, and videographers. After a few hours of interviews, the crew headed out for a much deserved lunch of FRESH FOOD and drink.

Photos coming of the arrival as soon as we’ve all settled into the land reality. Meantime, some final thoughts from Marcus and Joel:

At 1:00 am I took the helm, as Joel climbed into the cabin to sleep after having been on watch for 8 hours. A squall quickly overcame JUNK and left me and the deck drenched. The moon shot out from behind the clouds, illuminating the backside of the storm. By the light of the moon, a complete rainbow appeared. I’ve never seen one at night. I’ve 8 hours to keep the raft on a steady course for Honolulu, which is now only 40 miles away. There is so much to think about, so much to do, but still plenty of time to let my mind wander and ponder on this voyage. It’s been a long summer.

2,600 miles of open ocean crossed in 87 days. From our first week of sinking hopes on a sinking raft, through four hurricanes that swept under us, to the unbelievable chance meeting with Roz Savage in the middle of nowhere, we have had quite an adventure. We’ve collected 10 ocean surface samples using our marine debris trawl, managed to snatch a few large pieces of plastic debris that floated under us, and caught fish with stomachs filled with particles of plastic. Plastic is forever, and it’s everywhere.

That’s been our point. The Synthetic Century should have ended 8 years ago, replaced by the Age of Sustainability. There are over 20,000 man-made chemicals produced by the billions of pounds annually that are dispersed throughout the globe in an open loop of consumption that often ends as waste to be buried, burned or to flow down coastal watersheds out to sea. It is unsustainable and deeply troubling knowing that many synthetic compounds are persistent in the environment and are harmful to wildlife and humans. Plastic marine debris is one of them, and is the most ubiquitous form of pollution visible around the world. It is clear that single-use disposable plastic products have no place in modern society.

We return to society tomorrow if all goes well, to the world of alarm clocks, calendars, cars and shoes. Three months is enough time to forget the world you left and accept a new reality. But not everything is forgotten. I long for my friends, family and fiancée. I crave fresh veggies and exercise. In three months I wonder how I will reflect on this summer? Will there be days when I will find myself wishing to be back on JUNK, even if only for a minute? I don’t know what this experience will bring, but it is my intention to use it as a starting point for hundreds of conversations about solutions to the plastic plague. We have, in half a century, transformed 2/3rds of the ocean surface into a plastic soup. Knowing what I know, it would be immoral to do nothing.

As I watch the sun set on the final day at sea, I am overcome more with humility than excitement. I am truly humbled by the efforts of so many people that have made this journey a reality. Donations of time and funds came pouring in once we committed to this project, and thousands of people followed our story online. From an idea sketched on paper years ago, to the final miles of an amazing adventure, I can only say “Thank you.”

Best wishes,
Marcus

And for Joel’s final words, read on:
Land oh! I spotted land this afternoon at 1:45 Hawaii Time. The flanks of Mount Haleakala were showing through the clouds on East Maui. It’s been 85 days since we were towed out of Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach and around two months since sailing away from Isla de Guadalupe, the last piece of land sighted.

Junk was built in Long Beach next to the mouth of the Los Angeles River. Everyday I was there working on Junk the tide would push plastic debris into the harbor and remind me why as doing this. In the 2600 nautical miles since then we have observed all kinds of plastic debris floating and collected in the trawl. We have also watched a small school of fish, rainbow runners, that have been following Junk, grow from small fries with their egg sack attached to juveniles close to a foot in length. They too have traveled through the gyre gathering plastic debris. After catching one of the larger rainbow runners we looked in it’s stomach and found it was full of plastic bits including a pre-production plastic pellet or a nurdle. It gives me a profound sense that there is no place and no life form on earth that isn’t being affected by the on slot of synthetic chemicals that humans are releasing into the environment. It also brings home the point that planetary life support system works in cycles and we eventually learn (usually the hard way) that things we once though were benign directly affect human health and that there is no difference between environmental health and human health.

I am looking forward to being on land, but I’m staying focused on the task at hand, that is safely navigating Junk through the Kaiwi Channel between Molokai and Oahu and into the Ala Wai Harbor. The open ocean has it’s challenges but sailing close to land is often more dangerous. Kalaupapa Peninsula almost wrecked Don McFarland on his rafting voyage from California to Hawaii more than fifty years ago. We trying to stay at least 10 nautical miles north of Kalaupapa but not so far north that we get trapped on the windward side of Oahu and blown into the sea cliffs around Makapu’u. Right now the weather is perfect. We’re making our course dead-on and at this speed we should arrive at Diamond Head around noon.
Malaho for following the Junk Blog!
Joel
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PSA #8 from JUNK: Solving The Problem:

As for the arrival:

JUNK will be pulling into the Ala Wai Fuel Dock at around 10:00 am, Wednesday the 27th, to what we hope will be a wonderful welcoming. All are invited! Give a call Tuesday if you want more exact arrival times: 310-998-8616

After a few days of rest, showers, fresh food, and reconnecting with their land legs, JUNK’s crew will join Surfrider, The Nature Conservancy, The Kokua Foundation, and others at Sunset on the Beach, for music, activities, booths, food, and a word or two from JUNK (and perhaps Roz!)

Also on the program is an evening event at the Hawaii Yacht Club on September 3rd, with slides and tales; a press conference with Roz Savage and her Brocade on September 4th at the Waikiki Aquarium, and a North Shore party Saturday September 6th at Kainoa’s Bar.

Details to come - hope to see you on Wednesday!