A Thank-You to Sailors Who Clean Up the Bay

Sometimes we share negative stories about the state of the Bay, such as our story today about how balloons are a blight upon the waterways. We know it doesn’t feel good to read about all the plastic and other types of trash and pollution that are entering our oceans, but we share the stories in the hope of creating awareness of the issues, some of which we can all help to improve. On the flip side, we also love to share positive stories such as this one, in which we thank the sailors who recently cleaned up near Sequoia Yacht Club.

Sequoia YC member Edward Stancil had taken Nick Reyna out on his boat so that Nick could check the local GPS receivers. On the way, the pair noticed a lot of trash lying about on the beach and at the water’s edge. And while Nick was in the marsh doing his job, Edward started picking up the trash.

Edward filled two trash bags. “We always keep a pair of trash grabbers on our boat,” he said, and added that one of the more interesting items found during the cleanup was a yo-yo from Bank of America. “There was an incredible amount of garbage. It was easy pickings.”

Edward also commented on how quickly some of the plastic breaks into smaller pieces. We can see how that could be a good thing, but ultimately it makes debris harder to pick up. Hence the problem regarding microplastics.

Have you been picking up trash from the shoreline, or scooping it out of the water? Let us know, and send us a photo. We’ll see whose pile is biggest!

Thanks to Edward, and Helen, who helped launch and retrieve the boat, and all the sailors and beach walkers and swimmers — everyone who cleans up their local area, or wherever they happen to be. You’re all heroes in our eyes.