Normally, one of the rewards of offshore sailing is the opportunity to savor the natural world around you, unspoiled by the influences of man. But that hasn’t been the case for Giovanni Soldini and his international crew aboard the VOR 70 Maserati, who are now in the middle of the North Pacific, attempting to set a new official benchmark time for the old China tea clipper route from San Francisco to Shanghai. "We’re sailing in a plastic sea with two typhoons on our route," he wrote Friday.

"We are seeing a lot of buoys, bits of rope and line, cellophane, car tires, bits of netting, huge black plastic balls — a myriad of different plastic stuff weathered by sun and sea and now accompanying us around the high pressure area." At the time of that report, the theoretical edges of the infamous North Pacific Plastic Garbage Patch lay a few hundred miles to the north of Maserati‘s position. But, as Soldini wrote, "clearly its edges are pretty blurred… Last night, it took us a good couple of hours to free up the port rudder from a floating plastic line.

"Witnessing such a devastating spectacle gives you a very sad feeling of powerlessness and resignation," Soldini added. "… Is this the true face of progress? Is this what awaits us? Seas filled with plastic, dead and poisoned fish and birds? Perhaps instead of focusing solely on our technological future, we need to invest our resources in defending the planet’s resources from ourselves."

This recent video gives you a feel for recent conditions and life on board — including Giovanni’s 49th birthday celebration.
Courtesy Maserati.

In this morning’s update from Maserati, Soldinia and crew were no longer worried about cyclones — the big one that had lain ahead of them has now traveled north into the latitudes of the Philippines, and a second one that they’d been keeping an eye on has petered out. As Soldini explained, the big worry now is running out of wind: "Behind the cyclone, the trade winds disappear, with the risk of [us] being left without wind." As of this morning, Maserati still had more than 3,500 miles to go before making landfall at Shanghai. Follow her progress at Maserati‘s website of via Giovanni’s Facebook page. 

Since we’re always looking for a reason to visit Sausalito, the idea of touring the Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat Station Golden Gate during their annual Safe Boating Expo seemed an excellent way to spend last Saturday morning. Getting the chance to tour the vessels was a highlight. While onboard the 47-ft Motor Lifeboat, the question most often asked was, "Is this the boat that rights itself when it flips over?" The Coast Guard personnel patiently and politely replied each time, "Yes, in the extremely rare scenario of a capsize, it will right itself."  

The event was very well attended. There were many families with lots of youngsters who were very excited to romp around the vessels and pretend to steer from the flybridge, while wearing the junior-sized lifejackets that the Coast Guard were giving away, along with the adult-sized PFDs that ‘sold out’ within the first hour.

Right on schedule at noon, a Coast Guard helicopter buzzed the crowds and hovered off the pier at Fort Baker, near the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. We soon spotted a pair of flippers dangling out the open starboard doorway, and watched a rescue swimmer jump into the frigid Bay waters. As the helicopter circled away to the east, the bright orange smoke from the swimmer’s flare wafted behind him. The crew of a Coast Guard Auxiliary boat was standing by as the helicopter returned, hovered directly over the swimmer, and lowered a sling. With the stirred-up air and water, it took the swimmer a couple of tries, but he eventually grabbed the line, harnessed himself in and his crew winched him back aboard the helicopter.  

A second swimmer jumped in and repeated the training drill, to the delight of onlookers, especially the youngsters — some wearing little fire fighter hats that had been given to them by the Tiburon Fire Dept. That agency also had a vessel at the Expo along with vessels from the Marin Sheriff’s Dept. and a San Francisco Police rigid inflatable.

It was an honor for us to have an opportunity to thank the Coast Guard and other rescue personnel in person for their hard work in keeping us boaters safe.