Plastic, Plastic, Everywhere- Does anybody care???

Playa Champerico, Guatemala

After returning to Mexico and driving further south, we have realized that the most pressing issue for the ocean and humanity is not human waste or chemical pollution, but plastic waste.
Plastic has become the number one pollutant in the open ocean, outnumbering plankton 6 to 1 in the North Pacific Gyre (source: Algalita Marine Research Foundation).

Esquintla River, Guatemala

Plastic debris in the ocean is not only unsightly, it is harmful to marine life. Birds, fish, and turtles consume the plastic because it resembles food.

Plastic does not bio-degrade, it photo-degrades, that means it breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. It breaks down to the point at which even plankton consume it, as it slowly sinks to the bottom.

Don't trash this wave, please! Aubrey setting up.

Traveling through Central America, the story is no different: in fact it is the worst we have seen. Local trash collection is often unsatisfactory or completely absent, because it is either voluntary or costs money.

At Playa Zonte in El Salvador, we saw a local man throw a bag of trash onto the beach. We explained to him the problem with plastic in the ocean.

Local ripper Jimmy Rotherham rising above the plastic

Unfortunately, he viewed plastic and leaves in the same category, as ?basura? (trash). The local practice is to throw everything into the ocean. Currents drag the trash further out to sea, into the Gyre. As a result, the volume of trash is not obvious on the coast.

In El Salvador, many people cannot afford trash collection, or are unwilling to pay. They believe that the government should take care of it. Because of this, most trash is either burned or thrown to the wayside.

some nice set-ups in El Salvador

Education is a huge factor- the people do not see why plastic pollution is a problem. It has yet to affect them, and their health or their pocketbooks.

Aubrey reading to Jimmy's kids

We are starting by educating the children. Aubrey has been reading a children?s book by Joel Harper, ?All The Way to the Ocean?, to local kids. The book explains what trash does when it reaches the sea.

Students of the Traveling School learning Permaculture

Loren also taught a group of girls enrolled in The Traveling School and Introduction to Permaculture. They were all excited at the opportunity to create careers in the environmental field.

Libertad beach clean up

We did see signs of progress in La Libertad. A group of local women were picking up trash along Playa La Paz at Punta Roca. This is a step in the right direction, but a small band-aid at best.

We need to change our thinking about plastic, and see it as a resource. If plastic were worth money, not a single piece would be left on any beach.

A wood gasifier running a tractor. Plastic could be used as a substitute for wood

New technologies are here to use waste plastic. Gasification is not new, though the burning of waste plastic for electricity generation is a new idea. An Australian company named Ozmotech has created a generator to burn waste plastic at high heat to turn a steam turbine, with no exhaust.

Also, a woman in India has figured out how to turn waste plastic of all categories into fuel and high viscosity oil. What if you could clean the beach to run your car!

Plastic is made from petroleum after all. Why not return it and burn it! We can solve two problems with one solution- plastic pollution and the energy crisis.

We hope to find more of this along the way...

We are heading south to Nicargua to see what we can find there. This will be our final destination, and we will turn around retracing our steps and revisiting friends we met and projects we started along the way.

Source: http://surferswithoutborders.blogspot.com/2009/04/plastic-plastic-everywhere-gotta-stop.html

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YEAH you can have fun in 13kn gusts with GPS

Thanks Marjon van Leeuwen and Raymond Wortel for this beautiful shot!

Saturday 2 April 2011, I went windsurfing with my brother Wouter. He could decide where to go and we went to the Gouwzee, because Wouter wanted to test his 96cm wide board for lightwind. The Gouwzee is a perfect spot for having a good time, many good windsurfers, nice water and a little bit less wind compared to the Amstelmeer.

I rigged my brandnew Severne ReflexII 7.8, and used both the iSonic 107 and 127 with Sonntag SL-P fins. On the picture I ride Erik Schram his iSonic 127, what a great ride, what a joy! Another one on my list "what to buy" when I win the lotery ;). Thanks Erik for letting me try 85cm wide iSonic 127!

Yeah lightwind is fun too, waiting for a gust and go with the flow. And during/between windsurfing in the sun getting a tan, or talking with friends. Only 14 minutes above 20kn boardspeed, GPS topspeed below 30kn, it all doesn't matter when you're having fun together with other friendly windsurfers. Still fun and challenging to see if you can double the windspeed :)

Here can be found all pictures token https://picasaweb.google.com/raymond.wortel/Gouwzee20110402#

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SpeedsurfingBlog/~3/94wfrFxw4l0/yeah-you-can-have-fun-in-13kn-gusts.html

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Soakin' it Up

Returning to our favorite little gem on the Mexican coast was a welcoming relief from our journey south. The unique young town of Barra de La Cruz has become like our second home. Upon our arrival it took us over an hour (that was going as fast as we could) just to drive through the less than a mile stretch to Pepes Caba�as because there were so many familiar faces to catch up with.


The hardest part about traveling so far and visiting so many places is the lack of significant time you are able to spend at most of them. It is true that it really does take time to get to know a place, let alone form lasting bonds with the people who live there.

Making friends is easy, just paint them a picture!

Actually forming a close bond with the locals has been the easiest part for us and seems so for other travelers who take a genuine interest and have respect for their culture and way of life. "Mi casa es su casa? is the motto, and the peoples' incredible hospitality and generosity proves abundance does not come from material wealth.

We felt lucky to share some fun experiences with our muilti talented, energetic friends Anastasia Van Wingerden and Cyrus Sutton who came to meet up with us for a week.

Anastasia, Cyrus, and Loren trek'n

Anastasia 'Stas' is a great muscian, carrying her guitar and song writing skills from her recent residence in San Fransico, all the way to south of the border (check her out on her FaceBook page). Cyrus is an accomplished film maker and recently released an epic new surf documentary called ''Under the Sun''.

Cy on the belly ride, pro hand planing style

Both Cy and ?Stas are into riding waves in organic fashion! They brought a quiver of �Aquatic Oddities�, including the paulownia hand-planes custom shaped by Cy himself.

'Stas charging it on an Aquatic Oddity

Their interest to connect with the local people and to eat the fresh fruit of the land manifested beautifully on numerous occasions.

Olgilver doing what he does best

One adventure in particular took us on a scenic, though a little circuitous, hike along the coast and over into the next valley where our friends Olgilver and his father Faustino have a farm. They grow payayas, bananas, ca�a (sugar cane), and cocos. YUM! Our treck turned into a mega fruit fest as they insisted we try lots of their delicious sweet ca�a and later piled on the cocos.

Coco loco

'Stas loving it!

We were the first ?gringos? to have ever been over to their farm, and they were very excited that we had taken an interest to come see what they do. ?Trust us, it was our pleasure!?

after the mission

Then it was time to go back to school. The kids were preparing for their summer's break so we were just able to catch them for a few days. It was perfect timing though as our aim was to educate about the dangers of plastic in the ocean.

We have learned that children's attention is sustained for longer periods if you can make education fun. So we played lots of games, which was a great way to implement new ideas and get them to think about the environment and do something about it.

Loren practicing his referee skills for the game "rover rojo" (red rover)

Aubrey read the book "All the Way to the Ocean" (in Spanish) by Joel Harper to the kids. This was a good introduction to the kids about trash in the ocean, specifically plastic. They got it immediately, and we devised a game to solve the problem.

Aubrey reading "Al Camino del Oceano" to the ni�os

We came up with a game in which the children picked what they wanted to be, either dolphin, shark, or turtle. The dolphins and the sharks had to save the turtles from the poisonous jellyfish, or plastic bags. Then we ran around the village picking up the trash, or "agua malas" (jellyfish).

the cleanup crew

It is true that children are like sponges. So what a better way to clean up the mess we have all been making! They are ready to absorb, they just need something to soak up!


The wave has been good to us, with plenty to go around. Check out a short video here on YouTube from the GoPro SurfHero water camera!

Source: http://surferswithoutborders.blogspot.com/2009/07/returning-to-our-favorite-little-gem-on.html

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Art by Shepard Fairey

Source: http://seahugger.blogspot.com/2008/11/art-by-shepard-fairey.html

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The 6 hardest men of surfing

Surfing is a sport fuelled by passionate individuals, but sometimes the passion can spill over…onto the streets, onto the beach, into competition heats?and even into parties. In the world of surfing there are some that can blow your mind with their speed, power and flow…then chill your blood with their tough-guy reputation. These are the [...]

Source: http://www.newquaysurfer.org/2011/06/27/the-6-hardest-men-of-surfing/

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sem titulo

O tempo passa e eu nem dou por isso . J� n�o entro na agua h� muito tempo, quase desde que vim de f�rias.
�s vezes o tempo n�o d� para tudo, e entre trabalho, decis�es e falta de tempo , fica a vontade de me deixa levar pelo mar.
Cada vez que vejo uma foto, seja ela a que for, digo para mim, ?tenho que arranjar tempo?, mas n�o o tenho conseguido fazer. Sinto a minha cabe�a a funcionar a mil � hora, tento marcar qualquer coisa com amigos e quando reparo na minha semana, vejo que s� d� para combinar no final da semana que vem.

Penso que s�o fases da vida, momentos pelos quais passamos e que nos atropelam sem sequer nos apercebermos, s� hoje, � que me apercebi do estado em que estou.

Hoje tive tempo de andar a divagar por a�, e fui aos blogues do costume, parei a ler algo, sobre surf, era algo que falava de 'fazer e ver', e quando dou por mim, apercebo-me o quanto me tem feito falta molhar o corpo de �gua salgada.

Este fim de semana vou para a agua, vou na 6f e s� volto domingo. N�o sei se vou fazer alguma coisa de jeito, dado que as condi��es ?j� me ultrapassam? um pouco, mas s� de pensar sinto a minha respira��o alterada.

Estarei doente ?

Source: http://indigosecretspot.blogspot.com/2008/10/o-tempo-passa-e-eu-nem-dou-por-isso.html

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Dear & Yonder Film Watcheroo @ Rhombus!

You've got a whole month to plan for this, so we'll remind you again... but this is going to be some kind of event. I hear Angus (M. Gustav)  is going to be frying up fresh corn dogs and serving home made port wine.  (That last bit may very well be a vicious rumor started by Antonio.) 
Check it out yo.

Source: http://endlessbummerny.blogspot.com/2011/07/dear-yonder-film-screening.html

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News update

Its crazy good weather in the Netherlands, rumors are this 2011 year will be one of the hottest summers in last 100 years. Last couple of days lots of surfsessions, on mostly thermal winds. Even at places like Strand Horst, which is quite inland.

Speedsurfingblog.com is still looking for interesting experts. So would you think it is fun to represent one or more expertises related to speedsurfing, or could you just give information about speedsurfing in your country (Australia, Sweden, Great Brittain, etc...) send us an email if you have a good idea.

GPSTeamchallenge.com is now 4 years online! Good news for one of the fastest growing speedsites.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SpeedsurfingBlog/~3/lJFi0Vg2wHY/news-update.html

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