It was a stormy day.The ship started bouncing in late hours of the evening. And we bounced , bounced and bounced all the way from   kaohsiung to keelung. Expecting bad weather, the deck team had spent hours lashing various bits and pieces to other bits and pieces. It was number 8 on the beaufort scale, with winds reaching 60-70 km/h.     Not the worst I have been through, but certainly not best time for a stroll on deck for sure. Most of the campaign team from taiwan had been decimated on arrival, the bad weather casualties being visibly missing from the lunch table. But all said and done , It is such a thrill , to feel the ship constantly move underneath your feet. To step out and hear the waves smashing against the steel hull , sending a fine mist of salty water across the ship. Its spectacular. Every time I step out on deck , I marvel , feel a smile speeding across my salt water covered face. And I remind myself that one misstep , would be the end. There is no saving anyone in this, The edge of the ship is like the edge of a cliff. to davy jones locker, as they used to say. Macabre thought, maybe, but one that brings into perspective the life we lead. There is very often no place for stupidity, or mistakes in this life. And at sea, I am full of gratitude to someone somewhere, for letting me lead it. Every time.

solitude

Its been 88 days since I left the confines of land. The comfort of my bed. The smell of warm earth.
On 12th September I boarded the Rainbow warrior , 6 days before I turned 24. Today is the 8th of December. 88 days.
Its interesting , to say the least, this life on the sea that fate has chosen for me . A great mix of environmental activism, extremely satisfying menial jobs, cleaning , and learning to live in a community full of brilliant and often crazy people.
Last week we had a onboard campaign training for Greenpeace campaigners from around the world. As we were anchored in Manila bay, these 12 people learnt how to use a greenpeace ship as an effective campaigning tool. Not to mention, how to clean toilets, wash up after themselves (and others) and How NOT to take showers between 7.30 and 9 AM.
The ship was busting with activity at all hours. and with smart beautiful women. sigh. And then as suddenly it had begun, It came to an end. One fine morning , all the bags were packed and put ashore, with people and beautiful memories. And off we went.
To the solitude of the sea. She really is beautiful. and I say this from 6 meter high waves. Beautiful she is.
Its strange though, after a week of having my cabin full of people . To wake up in the middle of the night, and hear nothing but the waves. No rustling of bedsheets . No rogue alarms. no tiptoeing into the room at 1.

Just the solitude of the waves.

Dolphins on the bow

,"Dolphins!," went the cry. thrice was it heard , through the day.
It is one of the most pleasant things you will hear shouted onboard the rainbow warrior . for sure.
So we left all work and ran to the bow ( the front of the ship ) where dolphins love to play . For them its a little bit like surfing because they use the water displaced by the ship to move forward , or so they say.
But it is one of the most wonderful and uplifting things that one can see onboard this boat. In a certain way, it gives us a better sense of purpose than any action or campaign can.
The entire crew dissolves into little children , people shouting ,singing and calling on to the porpoises. They love attention , these dolphins. But then again so do we.
Today has been an interesting day. We saw a pod of curious little bottlenose whales
and three sets of dolphins. This is the first time since I boarded the Rainbow warrior in March that we have seen any marine life . I guess its a sign. The mystics within our organisation would certainly believe so, while the mechanics would quietly snigger in the corner. I'm not sue which one is right.
However it is indeed lovely to be greeted by the planet ,and to be able to acknowledge it.
Its a rare thing. And all I see are smiles.

david vs goliath

It was a hot summer day in Bombay when we found Mr Ratan Tata's house and decided to send him a message from 100 thousand Indians. a hundred thousand concerned and aware activists.
I remember the frantic decisions and the running around required to light some 8000 candles outside his house. We didn't even know whether he was going to see the spectacular image unveiling under his balcony as volunteers started lighting the candles on the sea shore.
But it just seemed the right thing to do.
We were not doing it for him, we were doing it for the 100 thousand people who had decided to click on the send button, to send the Mr.Tata a mail. Telling him how unfair he was being , building a port site next to the mass nesting site of olive ridley turtles. A port site that threatens to wipe Olive ridley turtles off the face of the planet. Gone. Poof. Deleted.

None of us could imagine the size of the fight we were picking on. It was pure conscience which egged us on, that and the complete absence of logic. Those were the principle that Greenpeace was once founded on . But we soon realized the size of the confrontation when our emails started getting hacked into, people were threatened with physical violence in Dhamra (the port site).and this was just the beginning.

The port builders had decided to put their massive PR machinery into action , flooding the internet with conflicting information and throwing dirt on Greenpeace . It wasnt about the turtles anymore . It became an information war. David Vs Goliath. live on the internet. pay per view.
I have nothing against the tatas, but I do have something for the turtles.

A corporation is going to invade into a turtle sanctuary and get away with it. Not only that,they will singlehandedly wipe them off this planet... and they are actually pretending to be environmentally conscious while doing it. That just makes me angry. actually no, its more than just anger ,its outrage.

The war for another species continues. And while the whales have a lot of champions , the turtles don't have many. I hope we will be enough. Else its high time to take a picture of an olive ridley , might be quite valuable in the future. Unlike a tata nano.

Here is something you can do, spread this video . as far as possible. as wide a possible. Put their PR machinery to shame, Shame them into doing something about the port. Who knows? it might just work .