Dear Call of the Sea Supporters and Volunteers,
This message is being sent at 7.00 AM on Earth Day, April 22. Bay tides are at their lowest, at 5 inches, barely above Mean Sea Level. The sun rose about an hour ago. Perhaps you greeted the morning light with a sun salutation. Or maybe you were sleeping in, hopefully in a warm and secure place.
Duncan Harvey taking a noon sight from Seaward’s deck
One of you managed to get a reading on your sextant and calculated the latitude at 38.00’48” North, and longitude at 122.55’09” West. Where are you?
Whenever or wherever this finds you, I hope you are healthy, safe, and able to enjoy this glorious day.
Exactly 50 years ago, Earth Day was founded as a day of education about environmental issues. It is now a global celebration that can stretch over a full seven days of events focused on protecting our precious planet and living “green”. For Call of the Sea, our Earth Day Sail is postponed to a date uncertain. But celebrate we will; and those of you who had reservations can look forward to sailing with us on what promises to be a truly special educational sail.
Among those things we will celebrate is our partnership with the Bay Model Visitor Center and its historic commitment to environmental education and stewardship. Chris Gallagher, the Center’s Park Ranger and one of our Board members, has opened the Center every year since 1985 to be the host site for Coastal Cleanup Day. Every September volunteers embark on various clean up activities around the Bay and along our coast. In 2019, the 36th anniversary of the event, 1,534 volunteers pitched in, 10,396 lbs of trash and 1,703 lbs of recyclables were collected, and 88 miles of coastline were cleaned up!
Our brigantine Matthew Turner was built with FSC Forest Stewardsip certified sustainably harvested wood; and its hybrid regenerative propulsion system makes it arguably the “greenest” tall ship on the planet. Its primary mission, along with schooner Seaward, is to educate generations of people about our fragile marine environment. Ours will be the perfect vessels on which to sail on Earth Days to come.
One of the flags we will fly to demonstrate our commitment to caring for the ocean will be blue, not green. Our newest Board member, Alice Cochran, is charting the course for Call of the Sea to join the international Blue Flag program dedicated to protecting bays, marinas, coastlines and seas around the globe. We intend to fly this flag on Flag Day, June 14, whether our vessels are at the dock or on the water!
“The ultimate test of one’s conscience may be the willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.” Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day
Stay safe and healthy,
Steven Woodside
