Attention ocean scientists: Rozalia Project Fellowships onboard American Promise!

 Rozalia Project Fellowships onboard American Promise operating from Downeast Maine to the Chesapeake Bay

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean invites scientists, researchers and ocean advocates on the subjects of marine debris, ocean pollution, climate change and more to join us for expeditions in the North Atlantic May-August, 2014.

Rozalia Project conducts its science expeditions from the 60' sailing research vessel American Promise, crewed by licensed mariners, Rozalia Project staff and interns. She is capable of crossing oceans, with a maximum crew of 9 people.

This Fellowship/guest scientist program is designed to share resources, give scientists extremely low cost opportunities to conduct research, access to underwater technology and expertise, and give Rozalia Project interns exposure to high level research scientists and their methods while we all work toward a clean and healthy ocean.

Rozalia Project is making 1-3 spaces available on each of three expeditions (below) for guest scientists through this fellowship program. Guest scientists will complete their own research alongside Rozalia Project's ongoing research and be a part of the daily interaction with our web based followers. American Promise is equipped with 2 ROV's capable down to 1000ft, side scan sonar, imaging sonar, 2 neuston nets, digital microscope, and ponar sediment grab.

The expeditions are followed by over 25,000 children across North America and beyond who will interact with the expedition and its work on a daily basis through web-based and satellite communication. We ask for $150/week food/supplies stipend, otherwise the spot is without charge.

May 19 - June 14

Rozalia Project’s primary objective: Direct action campaign - saving a species critical to our north Atlantic ecosystem, coastal marine debris work

Geographic location: US Atlantic seaboard (Maine - Chesapeake Bay)

2. July 6 - July 20

Rozalia Project’s primary objective: Ocean cleanup and testing Rozalia Project’s solutions to the problem of floating and shoreline trash: low by-catch net and using unmanned aerial vehicles for documentation of shoreline and surface trash

Geographic location: Gulf of Maine

3. July 27 - August 10 

Rozalia Project’s primary objective: Marine debris cleanup on the shoreline, surface and seafloor with a focus on outlying islands off the coast of Maine

Geographic location: Gulf of Maine, Downeast Maine

For more information or to apply: Call Rachael Miller at 802-578-6120 to discuss your research or send the following as soon as possible to rachael@rozaliaproject.org

• A brief overview of your department/organization
• Details about the work you would complete while aboard American Promise
• The CV, name and contact information of the person (or people) who would join us

We have had successful partnerships with scientists from the University of Exeter and the Ocean Conservancy and look forward to using American Promise to continue to further our understanding of the problems (and solutions) facing our marine environment.

Rozalia Project's 2014 Internship Program: exceptional people wanted!

Scientists, environmentalists, engineers, communicators, changemakers, movers and shakers wanted… 

for a demanding, problem-solving, data-collecting, ocean trash removing, robot operating, action-taking, sailing, educating, inspiring, career-advancing internship.

Join Rozalia Project for one of three 2014 expeditions onboard the 60’ sailing research vessel, American Promise. 

Following are the internships we have available this season. The right people are not just science and environmental studies majors, we consider and welcome people from any background and location. Ability to sail is not a pre-requisite. Being a great team-member, problem solver and someone who understands and is enthusiastic about Rozalia Project’s mission and the internship are prerequisites. Interns will take part in every aspect of the expedition. These internships are unpaid, we ask for a $150/week contribution toward food and supplies. Minimum age 18. Must love dogs (we have 2 Newfoundlands onboard).

1. May 19 - June 14

• Primary objective: Direct action campaign - saving a species critical to our north Atlantic ecosystem
• Geographic location: US Atlantic seaboard
• Topics, skills, activities emphasized during this expedition: fishery science and management, marine ecosystems, communication, neuston tows, data analysis, long distance sailing/passage making

2.  July 6 - July 20

• Primary objective: Ocean cleanup and testing Rozalia Project’s solutions to the problem of floating and shoreline trash: low by-catch net and using unmanned aerial vehicles for documentation of shoreline and surface trash
• Geographic location: Gulf of Maine
• Topics. skills, activities emphasized during this expedition: research and development, problem solving, robotics (aerial), surface tows, data collection and analysis, communication

3. July 27 - August 10 

• Primary objective: Marine debris cleanup on the shoreline, surface and seafloor with a focus on outlying islands off the coast of Maine
• Geographic location: Gulf of Maine, Downeast Maine
• Topics. skills, activities emphasized during this expedition: data collection and analysis, robotics (aerial and subsea), shoreline marine debris cleanup, communication

How to apply: Check out the full announcement then call, email, text, Tweet or send us a video… and tell us the following:

• Why or how Rozalia Project’s mission and work excites or inspires you
• Which expedition you would like to join and why
• Include your resume/cv

If you seem like a good fit (remember, we welcome all backgrounds, fit has more to do with attitude, energy and skills we need), we will contact you for a phone interview. That will be followed by us checking your references (we need 3: a teacher, an employer and a personal reference). Lastly, we will meet over Skype for one last conversation before we make a decision.

We use rolling admissions and will inform you of our decision either during, or soon after, the Skype interview. There are 3-6 internship opportunities per expedition. Spaces will fill up quickly!

Additional information about these internships can be found on rozaliaproject.org then click Interns & Crew under the Join Us tab. To apply: call Rachael at 802-578-6120 (mobile) or email your letter, or a link to your video, to: rachael@rozaliaproject.org

An efficient, quiet and lower impact new engine for American Promise!

2013: The Re-power Report. See the video by clicking here!

Now that the American Promise part of Rozalia Project’s season is over, we wanted to tell the story of our repower, the decisions, the reality and partners who made it happen.

First, let’s set the stage. Previously we had a 1986 Perkins diesel. It gave us no more than 5.5-6 knots (mostly with the current behind us) using 2.5 gallons per hour or more. It filled the boat with fumes, the most noticeable from hydraulic fluid. It bellowed black smoke on start-up, if it started up at all as the engine spent nearly all of last year with a 60/40 chance of starting without needing to use all of the battery power on the boat.

Learning about the State of Maine’s Clean Marine Diesel funding gave us the inspiration we needed to put our re-power research into high gear. We had been looking at re-powering and the possibility of going to a completely electric propulsion system. We (optimistically) envisioned a boat without any combustion engines, powered only by renewables in the form of solar, wind and hydro power.

We had no-compromise requirements and some compromises we’d be willing to make. Safety was no compromise. That means we needed reliability and range. Next came environmental considerations: improved efficiency and reduced emissions. Then, human comfort: reduced noise and fumes and finally, features such as ability to use biofuels and seamless switch over - not needing to rewire the whole boat or learn entirely new procedures (which we would do if we had to, but better if we didn’t).

We soon found that, though an electric motor (or two) could power a boat as large and heavy as American Promise, no reasonable combination of electric power and battery banks could give us a safe range. For example, if we installed $80,000 of lithium-ion batteries (charged by solar, wind or hydro power and/or a diesel generator), we would only have 2-3 hours at 5 knots to travel before the stored power would be depleted. At that point, our only option for powered propulsion would be via the diesel generator which, until the batteries could be charged, could only provide approximately 3 knots of speed. The river where we keep our mooring has that much current at max flow. That is no speed at which one can outrun (or end run) a thunderstorm. It became obvious that, while there are boats for whom electric power is a viable option, for American Promise, there is not enough range or safety to be found in an electric motor now or in the near future.

Enter the Steyr, Tier 3 marine diesel. We chose this motor for several reasons. All of which are a reality for us. Here are the stats:

• This summer we averaged 8-9 kts under power using 1.8-2 gallons per hour.
• We do not have a boat filled with fumes. This engine has an 80% reduction in nitrous oxide emissions over a Tier 2 engine.
• We do not belch black smoke upon start up, nor at any time. This engine has an 150% reduction in particulate matter over a Tier 2 engine and 1000% improvement from our 1986 diesel.
• The engine starts every time we turn the key.
• We can NOT hear that the engine is on while on the bow all the way to aft of the mast (unbelievable). We do not need to shout over it when under power down below or in the cockpit.
• We outran 2 severe and fast moving thunderstorms arriving at our mooring with time to spare for one that slammed us with 60 knots at the top of the mast
• We were always able to maintain control and precision in the swift moving waters of our homeport (the back channel of Kittery Point off the Piscataqua River)
• We did not need to rewire the entire boat.
• We did not need to learn any new procedures. We check the oil, we turn the key, we check the exhaust and we go. The maintenance schedule is reasonable and easy to follow. Our two home boatyards (Kittery Point Yacht Yard and Maine Yacht Center, who did the installation) are certified to work on the engine.
• Using a combination of power and sail and the generator for house bank power, we traveled 170 miles over 3 days for $61 in fuel from Northeast Harbor to Frenchboro to Hurricane Island to the Isles of Shoals and home to Kittery Point (includes conducting 4 surface tows under power before topping off the tank at the end of the expedition).

In addition to the above, once we are out of the break-in period we will be able to start running on biodiesel - all the way to B100. We could even be eradicating ocean pollution while running on restaurant waste in the form of veggie oil.

American Promise is the first vessel in North America to install this Tier 3 Steyr engine. The technology and features are new to the boating public. We showed the engine off to people all over the Gulf of Maine and in Boston and we are spreading the word that a switch to a Tier 3 marine diesel is a reasonable and accessible change that anyone who uses a diesel can make when ready to re-power. The benefits to the environment are easy to see and achieve (significant reduction in emissions, reduced footprint by increased efficiency and using renewable fuels), the benefits to those onboard are immediate (reduced noise and reduced fumes), and the benefits to the owners/operators clear (improved safety, same procedures with better performance, reduced operating/fuel cost).

Rozalia Project is grateful for support from the State of Maine Clean Marine Diesel Program with the Maine Marine Trades Association; 11th Hour Racing and Kilroy Realty Corporation as well as the Maine Yacht Center and Kittery Point Yacht Yard. Support from these forward thinking organizations made a big difference to Rozalia Project and American Promise. We will have a wider and wider effect as we share the technology and results with the boating community and everyone who loves the ocean and wants to do their part to keep it healthy.

See the video by clicking here!

A big month for Mission Atlantic

After realizing that all of our news has been posted on Facebook, Twitter and through the Mission Atlantic Program, we realized the blog needed an update. This just in from some of our amazing 2013 interns: Anna (U. of Missouri), Shira (College of the Atlantic) and Tina (Virginia Commonwealth U.) looking back at their weeks with Rozalia Project onboard American Promise...

Hey everyone!

We’ve been wicked busy doing research, cleanup, and education in the Gulf of Maine and Boston.  We’re admittedly a little bit behind with our updates, so here’s a snapshot of our adventures during the past few weeks on the quest for a clean ocean!

After a big crew change in Rockland, Maine, we sailed to Hurricane Island.  This was the beginning of two weeks of research with five brilliant scientists from the University of Exeter, England doing PONAR sediment grabs (keep your eyes out for a link to a great video) and Neuston tows! These “science under sail” methods make it possible to capture zooplankton and sediment dwelling animals to then find whether or not they ingest microplastics.  This research is exciting because it may show us if microplastics are entering the bottom levels of the food web.

We were greeted at the Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership by fantastic hosts who taught us about the islandʼs sustainable infrastructure, including composting toilet systems and solar panels.  Another important learning experience happened, too - the Brits had their first sʼmores during a 4^th of July celebration!

In Boothbay, Maine, we had the opportunity to meet up with our friends at the Boothbay Sea and Science Center who, like us, are working to get kids out on the water and involved in ocean research.  We toured the Bigelow Labs, home to some awesome marine research from the smallest of ocean creatures on up.

Our next stop was Portland, Maine, where we participated in Portland Green Drinks.  Though the Maine Yacht Center, where the event was hosted, is a bit of a journey out of town, more than 400 people came out to the event.  We were blown away by their enthusiasm and it had the strongest attendance of any of our events yet!

We continued on to the Isles of Shoals to research and had the chance to explore Star Island and learn about the local ecology.  One evening, we hosted some of the Pelicans (Star Island staff) on American Promise, enjoying the best bioluminescent show we had ever seen!

Excited to proceed to our big week of education, we sailed down to Boston via Kittery and Gloucester, enjoying great weather and singing sea chanteys during a couple long days under sail.  In Boston, we set up shop at the Courageous Sailing Center at the Charlestown Navy Yard.  The beautiful view of Boston as we arrived put us all in agreement that Boston by boat is the way to go!

Our first day of education was spent at Community Boating, arriving via the Charles River, which inspired one of our Mission Atlantic reports about the locks and seasonal fish ladder systems.  During our education program at CBI, Hector (our ROV) recovered his first key ever and we even found its owner. One of our students was inspired to make his own ROV at home. We always love to see what methods the kids are inspired to create to clean the oceans on their own! 

Throughout the week, we worked with several hundred kids and their phenomenal instructors with the Courageous Sailing Center programs in Charlestown, Community Boating on the Charles, and at Jamaica Pond.  Between boat tours and American Promise history lessons, Hector flying time, surface dipnetting and dock tows, we were able to immerse the students in everything that Rozalia Project is about, “immerse” being the operative word.  As Hector raised bilge tubes and plastic cups to the surface covered in sediment sludge, the kids were shown an accurate representation of ocean cleanup, which can sometimes get a bit messy!  This theme continued on one of our favorite afternoons of surface cleanup with the programʼs Instructors in Training.  A torrential downpour in Boston presented the opportunity for a lesson in interconnectedness as all of the litter from the cityʼs streets washed down storm drains and bubbled up into the harbor.  We only spent 30 minutes wrangling this trash but ended up grabbing 507 pieces in total!!  An enormous proportion of our haul was made up by food wrappers, but each one had at least a couple of micro debris pieces hanging on for the ride. 

We're now back at our home base in Kittery, doing some final research and

development on our Baleen Basker and fondly reminiscing about the past 4 weeks aboard American Promise.

A huge thank you to our partners - we couldn't do it without you:

Rockland Public Dock

The team from the University of Exeter: Dr. Tamara Galloway, Dr. Ceri Lewis, Dr. Andrew Watts, Stephanie Wright & Matthew Cole

Sam and crew at the Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership

Nicole at Bigelow Labs

Pauline, Ed and everyone at Boothbay Sea and Science Center

Tom and Debrah Yale

Maine Yacht Center

Portland Green Drinks

Star Island staff

Kittery Point Yacht Yard

Dave, Kate, Rebecca and crew at Courageous Sailing Center

Ginger, Colin and crew at Community Boating, Inc.

New England Aquarium Harbor Explorations summer camp

The Boston Harbor Association interns

Berwind Family Foundation interns

Bonnell Cove Foundation of the Cruising Club of America

In-Kind sponsors: Interlux, Cloth n'Canvas, OCENS, Select Design, Scully Interactive

OʼConnor family

and this summer's funding partners: 11th Hour Racing, American Chemistry Council, Berwind Family Foundation, Kilroy Realty Corporation, Boat US Foundation, State of Maine Clean Marine Diesel Program/Maine Marine Trades, Lake Champlain Basin Program, WND&WVS and our generous contributors to the Annual Fund

Thanks for reading!

For a clean ocean,

Rozalia Project interns AF, SC, and TM

That was not exactly the plan

Today's blog is directly from Rozalia Project's Mission Atlantic Mission Report 11. 

Different perspectives on the same big day/Mission Report 11

“American Princess, American Princess, this is US Coast Guard Sector New England, what is your location and have you contacted a marine salvage or towing company?”

Of all the conversations we could be having at 2230 hours (10:30pm) on Thursday May 30, this was not at the top of our list. The fact that the name of our beloved vessel, American Promise, came through the VHF as American Princess was, in the end, a good excuse for a chuckle as we were adrift just outside the mouth of the Piscataqua River. We were just 2.5 miles from our mooring with a 10 hour-old transmission that smelled like burnt chemicals and propellor that would not spin. The good news is that it was an ebb tide (pushing us back out to sea as opposed to on the beach), a flat sea (making the deck stable), we are a sailboat with sails ready to go, we have a calm, trained crew, the stars were pretty and we are members of Tow Boat US so Steve from Portsmouth Towboat was on his way.

While one might think that being adrift and getting towed in at midnight would be the most drama  for the day, for many onboard, it was not. The day started in Portland, ME 12 hours before we attached Steve’s towing bridle to our bow. In the 48 miles between Portland and just outside of the “2KR” buoy at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbor where we shut the engine down, we had interns complete their very first ocean sail, navigate for the first time, get seasick for the first time and we all saw our first TWO basking sharks!

We asked each of our interns to write two paragraphs about the day. Here is what they said... 

Tara: Thursday was a very exciting day for me for two reasons, the first being, it was my first real trip on a boat!  Aside from a few short, 3-hour trips I’ve taken with school, I’ve never really been on a boat.  Besides being seasick for part of the ride, it was AWESOME!  There is certainly something special about the way a sailboat glides through the water.  Also, being in the middle of the ocean at nightfall and being able to see every star possible is a very cool experience.

Though I’m going to school for marine biology and will be graduating next year, I really haven’t seen much wildlife except for what lives in the intertidal zone, so you can only imagine my excitement when we saw TWO basking sharks while underway!  Their fins were huge!  One of them ended up following us for a bit and the other popped up right next to the boat while we were heeled over.  We could actually see the tip of the second one’s tail fin sticking out of the water; we estimate he might have been about 15 feet long. I hope your Thursday was as exciting as mine!

Christian: You never realize how much you take a level surface for granted until you try cooking a meal on a boat that is under sail. I was able to have this interesting experience last night while I was cooking the very gourmet meal of noodle soup and bread with butter for the crew of American Promise.

I witnessed pots and pans flying from one side of the galley to the other, all while trying to balance liquids so they wouldn’t tip over.  I have heard about living on the edge, but never living at an angle…  I found it to be quite a fun challenge.

Michael: Last night was a totally new experience for me. When we were motoring towards Kittery our transmission pooped the bed. Before the crap-out, the engine had been surging and making strange noises. When the RPMs and the engine drone fell out of sync our Captain, James, went below only to find smoke in the transmission compartment. We quickly shut everything down and radioed for assistance.

Drifting in a quiet and black sea was eerie yet calming. I was assigned as the spotter on the foredeck, looking for lobster traps, buoys, and other vessels. Once it was clear that we were safe, I occupied myself with the spectacular stars.

Kate: As a dinghy sailor, from the Chesapeake Bay, I had never really sailed in the ocean before. It was an exhilarating experience that I would gladly repeat minus the slight seasickness. Getting to steer and tack the boat was a huge difference compared to laser sailing. The boat’s reaction time is much slower so I had to be careful not to over-steer the boat.

Raising and lowering the sails was a huge process that required almost the whole crew’s effort. Sailing after dark was also a new experience for me. Stargazing in the middle of the ocean was amazing and watching the beautiful sunset as we were underway was a priceless experience and my favorite part of our journey to Kittery.

Kaleigh: Dear Beloved Voyage Journal, As I gnawed on my first ginger chew, Captain James (we don’t call him that) said we were ready to sail. With all hands on deck, I struggled to establish my sea legs as we handled lines, cranked winches, and wrestled the gigantic white sheets to begin my first time as a crewmember on a sailboat. Voila! We were underway, and it was smooth sailing—such smooth sailing that as the vessel rocked slowly from side to side my eyes closed and my head fell to my chest as I lounged on the side of the cockpit. Bobbing back up, slightly embarrassed, I noticed the
same dozing demeanor on the faces of each of my fellow interns and my worry vanished. 

The voyage was marked by two thrilling basking shark spottings (!), navigation by numbered buoy markers, and a viewing of the eerie Boone Island as James retold the historical Spanish trade boat wreck story that nuances the land with haunted helplessness. Vivid sunset images eased my mind as my head hit the pillow in my cozy bunk aboard American Promise.

My observations... emergency training is priceless; when it seems something is wrong, have a thorough check - it probably is; and the natural beauty of the sea, stars and a few basking sharks is enough to eclipse seasickness, the ignominy of being towed and replace frustration with determination.

Good seeing the whole picture,

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean

Today’s Report by: rzm and the crew

Report tags: all ages, inside, outside, expedition story, different perspectives on the same day

**To see other MIssion Reports, go to: http://www.rozaliaproject.org/mission_atlantic_docs/  

If you would like to start receiving the Mission Atlantic Mission Reports, they go out almost every day during the week! Go to: http://www.rozaliaproject.org/contact/mission_atlantic.php to sign up (it is free).

Scientists, researchers and ocean advocates join us for 2013 expeditions!

Hello all,

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean would like to invite scientists, researchers and ocean advocates on the subjects of marine debris, ocean pollution and climate change to join us for offshore expeditions in the North Atlantic May-July, 2013.

Rozalia Project conducts its  science expedition's from the 60' sailing research vessel American Promise. American Promise is crewed by licensed mariners, Rozalia Project staff and interns, she is capable of crossing oceans, with a maximum crew of 9 people.

Rozalia Project will be continuing its own research into marine debris and benthic habitat destruction during these 3-7 day offshore expeditions. The expeditions will be followed by over 5,000 children enrolled in marine based summer programs who will interact with the expedition and its work on a daily basis through web-based and satellite communication.

Rozalia Project is making 1-2 spaces available on each expedition for a guest scientist. Guest scientists will complete their own research alongside Rozalia Project's ongoing research and be a part of the daily interaction with our web based followers. American Promise is equipped with 2 ROV's capable down to 1000ft, side scan sonar, imaging sonar, 2 neuston nets, digital microscope.

There will be multiple, one week-long expeditions that will visit areas of the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, Gulf Stream and other areas of the North Atlantic. Each guest scientist will be responsible for transportation of themselves and equipment to and from the departure location. We ask for $150/week food/supplies stipend, otherwise the spot is without charge.

Rozalia Project's selection committee will assess each application for an invitation to join Rozalia Project onboard American Promise in summer 2013.

This guest scientist program is designed to share resources, give scientists extremely low cost opportunities to conduct research, access to underwater technology and expertise, and give Rozalia Project interns exposure to high level research scientists and their methods while we all work toward a clean and healthy ocean.

For more information about Rozalia Project's guest scientist program for the summer of 2013, please email or call me. Contact details below.

We look forward to furthering ocean health with you.

For a clean ocean,

rzm

Rachael Z. Miller

Co-Founder/Executive Director

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean

rachael@rozaliaproject.org

Mobile: 802-578-6120

Winter office: 802-767-3784

Web site:www.rozaliaproject.org

Blog: http://rozaliaproject.blogspot.com/

Photo Gallery on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/rozaliaproject/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RozaliaProject

Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/rozaliaproject?feature=watch

To donate: http://www.rozaliaproject.org/donate/

Many Hands Make Light Work

This summer, Rozalia Project learned that the people we work with make our organization as great as it is.  The interns that joined us this summer took our breath away with their perseverance, integrity, creativity, and professionalism.   In every location we visited, our partners commented on the high quality of the Rozalia Project interns.  We would not have been able to pick up over 40,000 pieces of debris (nor count or sort them) without the tireless efforts of our interns. 

Other than just their hard work, the interns made this summer fun, upbeat, and a truly memorable experience.  From dancing in immersion suits (viewable here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMF7LeK_L5w&list=UUyGuOwTKG35ofRdtruO-qHw&index=2&feature=plcp to jokes around the dinner table to squeals of excitement over interesting sea creatures, we were never short on laughs or good times. 

Happily, the interns felt the same.  Please read on to see what the interns had to say when reflecting upon their time with Rozalia Project this summer: 

“Entering the Rozalia Project late in the summer, I was both excited and anxious. I wondered if the crew would be intimidating, or the tasks overwhelming. I knew virtually nothing about sailing! Instead, I was warmly welcomed by the crew, and indeed, did jump right into work! My responsibilities, although new, were interesting and fun, and I never felt overwhelmed. After the first week in New York, I felt comfortable with caring for and driving the ROV and was ready to learn everything I could about sailing while on American Promise. Rachael, Rebecca and all the crew were so patient and helpful, I tackled sailing in no time! It’s an exhilarating experience, which I’m sure I will continue as a hobby. Another activity I’m sure I will never stop doing, is picking up debris! Just the other day, I found myself collecting a Styrofoam packing peanut off the ground and whispering under my breath: “Shipping material” as if another intern was beside me, keeping tally on a Rozalia Project data sheet. As an action/science intern, I feel that I walked away with skills that will allow me to reach my career goals, and experiences and friends that I will never forget. During our last day on American Promise, as we headed back to Kittery, Maine with no wind to sail, our spirits were lifted as we encountered a marine mammal extravaganza of a lifetime! We had Minke whales breach close enough to look us in the eye, and numerous dolphins and seals gliding past the boat just feet away from us. It was an amazing end to an equally amazing internship.”  – Sarah Kollar

“There is much about the Rozalia Project that defies characterization. It is tempting to call the work that I did for Rozalia an internship, but it was really a lot more than that. While I was on board the American Promise, I was learning, living, adjusting, and growing in ways that cannot be triggered by a simple internship. Similarly, it is tempting to describe Rozalia as a conservation group, but they are actually something more complex. I had the pleasure of being surrounded by new places, new people, new wildlife, and new ideas for the duration of my time with the project. I learned how to work and live in tight quarters with a group of people I barely know, I learned to look at the ocean and the world in a more critical way, and, perhaps most importantly, I realized the importance of safeguarding the world’s ocean. Thanks so much!” –Conor Grant

“Things I Learned With the Rozalia Project

·      Reprovisioning isn’t just a necessity, it’s a skill.  Feeding eight people, anticipating the week’s meals, making sure it will all fit in the reefer, AND that everyone’s Wheat Thins needs are met isn’t for the faint of heart.  That being said, no matter how often you’ve been, how much you’ve planned out your trip, or how quickly you need to be done, reprovisioning WILL take three hours, Sam’s Club WILL be overwhelming, and you WILL get at least seven bags of Veggie Sticks.

·      You have to be a jack-of-all-trades to start and run a non-profit. The number and range of challenges that Rachael and James, and consequently all the crew, face each day can, indeed, be daunting.  Today, the sump pump stopped working. Tomorrow we have to go to Staples and make six posters for a booth. Wednesday, you’re on dinner and have to walk the dogs. 

·      Networking is key.  The only way the Rozalia Project (or any non-profit, or any company, or any person) can grow and progress in the world is to network.  Even what seems to be an insignificant meeting could pan out to be something big.  And if it doesn’t, it’s always nice to have 10 more people in the world telling their friends about the Rozalia Project. 

·      Real science takes time and often doesn’t work.  Sometimes you have a great idea and get really excited about testing it and think it’s going to work as soon as you throw it in the water.  When the Basker took its first plunge, however, this clearly wasn’t the case.  Although it takes a while, the tweaking, testing, and perfecting can be extremely satisfying. You may even have to get hoisted along the spinnaker pole to make it happen.

·      There is trash in the ocean.  A lot. Most of it is small, hard to see by the casual passerby, and easily consumed by animals.  Even extremely remote locations such as Frenchboro, ME can have their pristine coastlines ruined by rusty traps, lobster bands made in Canada, and colorful bits of microfiber. 

·      Trash hunting is addicting.  What cleaning up trash lacks in glamour, it certainly makes up for in fun.  Amidst the scenery of the open ocean or the rocky beaches of Maine, who wouldn’t enjoy bending over and picking up other people’s litter?! Once you start you literally can’t stop (especially Kyle!). I was overcome with pride and respect for our team during the first day of the Frenchboro beach clean-up. Despite incessant rain the eight of us went to work without a single complaint.  We literally had to drag ourselves away from the beach, and THAT is awesome.

·      We can predict where high densities of trash will be and find it!  One of the more exciting discoveries during my month on the AP was that trash accumulates along “tide lines” where two bodies of water either from different currents or of different temperatures converged to form mats of sticks and seaweed.  Our first “tideline” tow collected 384 pieces of plastic!  The large lines we passed on the sail to Frenchboro had bottles, cans and buckets floating on them.  If we can find these convergence zones and tidelines, we can get even more garbage out of the ocean.

·      Red Solo Cups sink.  They may be great for parties, but these little devils shoot straight to the bottom.  It proves that everything we drop into the water, everything we lazily leave on the dock to get blown into the ocean, everything we throw on the ground to get swept out with the rain WILL sink.  While it may be out of sight, out of mind, it still poses problems for our aquatic friends.  Without the ROV, how would we know they were even there?!

·      There is hope for the world.  We can clean up the trash!  We can use plastics responsibly! We can recycle and properly dispose of our garbage! And the beauty of it all is that children understand this!  After watching groups of kids run enthusiastically between the ROV in the Fort Adams basin and the Rozalia Project tent on shore, gnarly-looking PVC pipe held triumphantly overhead, I believe that a change will happen.  These kids know that we cannot have trash in the ocean. They know the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling.  They know that their individual actions will make a difference.  This is what can and will solve the world’s problems, and I am proud to have been a part of it.”  –Blais Hickey

“During my internship I managed to fall overboard while at a dock, destroy my phone, tell my mom the wrong day to pick me up and then drop her keys into the ocean!   It was by far the most enjoyable internship ever! From sailing for the first time, to waving at seals, to picking up trash on far away islands there was no experience quite like it.  Even though things may have not gone perfectly, I realized there’s nothing more valuable then packing up and trying something new.  All the crazy things that will happen along the way just might surprise you.”  –Andrew Randazzo

“So often we, being The Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean, are described as the people who pick up trash.  And yes, this is true; we pick up a lot of trash, but we also do so much more than that.  This summer, as part of the Rozalia Project team, I learned that cleaning the oceans begins with the removal of one piece of marine debris.   While this seems like a basic concept, if you really think about it if every person in the world picked up one piece of trash a day (either from land or the water – all trash on land will become trash in the water), the world would already have over 7 billion less pieces of garbage littering the surface daily.  If we each picked up more than one, imagine what we could do.  As a science/action intern I spent a large portion of my time working on data sheets, organizing what Rozalia Project and our partners pick up.  Analyzing these numbers made me realize how much we can really do about this issue.  There was one day where Marina and I spent about 2 hours cleaning 2 or 3 blocks in Providence, RI and with just the two of us in this short period of time, we collected close to 900 pieces of garbage.  Everyone knows that marine debris exists, but working with Rozalia Project taught me that awareness is not the only thing we need.  What we, as a population need, is the inspiration to pick up that wrapper or piece of paper and toss it in a garbage can or a recycling bin.  With Rozalia Project, I feel that not only do I now have the will to eliminate marine debris, but I feel that I have also inspired others to do the same.” –Laura Migliaccio

Thanks again for an amazing experience!!! I thought I would share some things I learned and journaled while on American Promise:

1. Don't be afraid to ask questions. If you're learning something new, take advantage of the  

    opportunity.

2. Keep a positive mindset and positivity will follow.

3. Remember the big picture. All small things and actions are 

    leading you there.

4. Be spontaneous even if it's scary.

5. Don't loose hope in mankind, inspire children.

6. There is no rush in life, you will reach your goals when  

    you're ready.

8. Don't be shy, there is no reason to be.

9. Everything happens for a reason.

Hope everyone got home safely and the next round of interns are ready for a once in a life time experience with amazing people! - Marina Maze

Some other anonymous quotes from our interns:

“This experience was significant for me in that I completely removed myself from every life comfort and familiarity. I put myself in a totally unfamiliar place and it made me step out of my shell. I became more confident and have realized I am not as shy as I used to be. It taught me to take every moment as an opportunity to learn something about myself and about life.”

“This internship was one of the best experiences I have had; it is extremely unique. I love that the second you arrive you jump right in with whatever project is happening in that moment. The bond that forms between everybody on the boat is so special and you really feel like an important part of something great.”

“I will continue to be active in my marine debris removal, just like the Rozalia Project is. I will also not be afraid to contact organizations that I am interested in and voice my opinion, or ask to get involved. After the internship, I feel more independent, flexible, spontaneous, creative and pro-active.”

“This internship helped to solidify my desire to pursue further education and a future career in oceanography. It was a great way to test the waters of this field of study. After spending time on American Promise, I am now also interested in doing vessel research.”

If you, or know someone who might be interested in an internship with Rozalia Project, please check the “join us” section on our website or e-mail Rebecca@rozaliaproject.org.

As always, make sure to “like” us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @rozaliaproject, and check out our pictures on pinterest.com/rozaliaproject to see the excitement of Rozalia Project’s Fall Tour!

For a Clean Ocean,

Rebecca Inver Moffa

Director of Outreach

A lot of marine debris and amazing interns!

Rozalia Project 2012 Summer Trash Tour: Session 1 Recap

What an amazing start to the 2012 Summer Trash Tour!  Starting June 3^rd, we boarded American Promise: Captain Kyle Vowels, first mate Sloane Suciu, interns Kayla Lubold, Laura Dunphy, and Blais Hickey, Rozalia Project’s director Rachael Miller and me, the Science and Education Coordinator.  Over the next few weeks we towed our nueston net off the Isles of Shoals, removed thousands of pieces of trash from beaches on Frenchboro Island and beaches around Kittery, ME and Portsmouth, NH.  We also tested out our new low bycatch neuston tow device called a Baleen Basker (bioengineered design based on a basking shark and baleen whale).   During the first few weeks of this session we also had some other interns assist us with our marine debris removal, research and education:  Andrew Randazzo and Connor Grant.  At the end of June, we attended the America’s Cup World Series races in Newport, RI and a new intern joined us: Marina Maze.  After the America’s Cup, we got another new intern, Laura Migliaccio and had to say goodbye to some interns who had been with us for the first portion of the summer session.  Next we began our education-intensive portion of the summer doing outreach programs in Edgartown, MA, Providence, RI, Newport, RI and finishing up with a week of education in Boston. 

In Boston we docked at our usual spot at Courageous Sailing Center on Pier 4 in Charlestown Navy Yard and hundreds of sailing students helped us remove trash from the bottom of Boston Harbor with our ROV.  Besides our visits at Courageous Sailing Center and Community Boating Inc., we worked with some new outreach partners in Boston this year and went to new locations, namely Harbor Discoveries Camp at the New England Aquarium, Camp Harborview on Boston’s Long Island, and Jamaica Pond in Jamaica Plains.  We were able to remove many bottles, cans, tires, ropes, and other miscellaneous pieces of marine debris from Boston Harbor, the Charles River, and Jamaica Pond.  We are very excited to be heading back to Boston August 18-24 when we will again dock in Charlestown Navy Yard and run programs at Camp Harborview, Courageous Sailing Center, Community Boating Inc. and Jamaica Pond!

We wouldn’t have been able to remove 24,039 pieces of debris and work with 2,945 people this summer already without the tireless efforts from all of our interns.  They endured through seasickness, heat, cold and rain to help us further our mission of removing marine debris.  Our fearless interns piloted the ROV, sailed at night, got covered in plankton, sand, and mud all to take trash out of our waterways and dispose of it properly. Their enthusiasm buoyed us all and their passion for our work is an inspiration.  I can’t speak highly enough about their professionalism; we never heard a single complaint out of any of them!  I feel lucky to have gotten to meet every single one of them and we couldn’t be happier to have them as part of the Rozalia Project team.

We also had some special visitors onboard American Promise throughout our first session who also aided us in our mission and gave us indispensable support and their expertise.  Thank you Martha Fisher, Art and Nancy Glidden, Sean O’Hallaran, and Allyson Wilson!

The next portion of the 2012 Summer Trash Tour will kick off with underwater trash hunting and STEM education with the VideoRay ROV Larchmont, American and Beach Point Yacht Clubs in New York City and with Schooner, Inc. on the tall ship Quinnipiac in New Haven, CT.  We will have a few more interns join us and some previous interns will be back to help us at various locations.  From August 10-12 we will have a table in the Ecozone! and operate our ROV as part of the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival in Burlington, VT.  Following that, we will sail with American Promise up to Portland, ME before returning to Boston to finish up our summer with more outreach programs and research of the density and distribution of marine debris in Boston Harbor.

We look forward to many more breathtaking sails, incredible interns, excited students, and meaningful marine debris removal in the month to come.  Keep checking back to read our new blogs as well as visit us on facebook.com/rozaliaproject, youtube.com/rozaliaproject, pinterest.com/rozaliaproject, and follow us on Twitter.

Frenchboro, ME: Stunning, remote and now 12,166 pieces of debris cleaner

The dim silhouette of Maine’s Long Island began to emerge against the rugged backdrop of Mount Desert Island at around 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 12, and when the American Promise glided into the lapping waters of Frenchboro Harbor, the raw beauty of the tiny island was already unmistakable.  The American Promise, the 60-foot sailboat that serves as the mobile headquarters of the Rozalia Project, took up mooring about a tenth of a mile off the coast. Long Island is located halfway up the coast of Maine, a few miles south of Bar Harbor. The island, home to the small town of Frenchboro, was one of the first stops on the Rozalia Project’s Summer 2012 Trash Tour.

The eight members of the Rozalia Project’s trash collection crew met with Terry Towne, our contact with the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, at 10:30 a.m. Terry would serve as an indispensable hiking guide, naturalist, expert in Frenchboro life, and storyteller in the days of trash collection to come. We learned from Terry that Frenchboro is a tiny fishing village that consists of 32 year round residents. The town encircles the all-important harbor, consists primarily of a few clusters of waterside cottages, and boasts a beautiful colonial-style church, a library, a small school which accommodates Frenchboro’s 11 children in the grades K-8, a small municipal building, and two small waterside eateries. As we puttered into Lunt’s harbor on two small dinghies, the multitude of Frenchboro’s fishing piers came into view, the stacks of lobster traps and colorful rope-coils atop them revealing Frenchboro’s life-sustaining industry. The nucleus of the Frenchboro community, the harbor seemed alive with the brine-crusted vessels of fishermen. Mighty stacks of lobster traps sat like wire skeletons atop barnacle-covered sepulchers in the morning fog.

We followed Terry through the tiny village and on a stunning two-mile hike across the island. Our hike took us through the Southern fringes of the boreal forest to the Southeastern edge of Long Island. We emerged from the scrubby pines of the forest to an overwhelmingly beautiful vista. From our vantage point, we looked out over a beautiful, grassy isthmus of no more than 50 yards in width, fringed on either side by two rocky beaches. Ahead of us lay a knobby, spruce-covered peninsula ringed by coarse reefs and weathered rock columns. Around us, the seas were festooned with lobster buoys of every imaginable hue. This beautiful place was Rich’s Head, our cleanup site.

We stopped to eat a quick lunch in the middle of this postcard, and then we set to work for our first day of cleaning. The beaches were even rockier than they had first appeared, and the smooth, larges stones obscured from view an incredible amount of debris. The beaches were littered with thousands of pieces of trash that had escaped notice in our initial survey of the peninsula. We discovered food wrappers, derelict fishing traps, buoys, plastic bottles, bait-bags, bits of rope, and other fishing materials. The sheer volume was quite shocking; it struck me immediately that our three days in Frenchboro would be scarcely enough time to clean up all of the debris before us. We cleaned at an energetic pace; on the first day of pickup, we managed to pick up 3,112 pieces of trash in just three hours.

We returned to Rich’s Head the following day and continued our work despite inclement weather (it rained for most of the day). We were astonished at the amount of debris concentrated in the large drift pile that sat towards the middle of the isthmus leading to Rich’s Head.  The thousands of buoys that we had circumvented en route to our mooring in Lunt’s Harbor had formed a similarly vivid mosaic of color in the large drift piles of the isthmus.  Not only was the trash scattered along the whole length of the beach, but also, amazingly, it was vertically layered in heap after heap of driftwood. After a day of scouring the drift piles, we managed to pick up a staggering 4,798 pieces of trash on our second day of collection.

Rather than cleaning the twin beaches of the isthmus as we had done for the previous two days, we trekked further along the peninsula on our third and final cleanup day.  We got to enjoy some of Maine’s best most beautiful hiking trails as we zigzagged through mossy knolls on the way to our new location. After about a ten-minute walk from our initial cleanup location, our team emerged onto a rocky plain littered with buoys and plastic bottles. We had just begun to pull on our work gloves and stuff our bags full of garbage when our guide Terry rounded the bend behind us, laughing at our efforts. Not finding the heaps of buoys and bottles particularly amusing, we shot Terry a volley of quizzical looks. “Oh this isn’t the spot,” he told us. “Once you see how much trash is out further on the point, you’ll have your hands full, believe me.”

Terry wasn’t kidding. Lying on the side of the hiking trail that looped around Rich’s Head were heaps of trash so large it looked as though people had already piled them for us. When we walked out further onto the rocks, however, the debris only seemed to multiply. At the conclusion of this third day, we had amassed a pile of more than 4,256 huge pieces of debris, ranging from a propane tank to a Styrofoam-filled piece of plastic dock material.

We found it staggering that such a high volume of trash could accumulate in a location as seemingly remote as Long Island. Our visit to Frenchboro was a dramatic example of the interconnectedness of all ocean-goers. A unique feature of the ocean, one as beautiful as it is dangerous, is that no part of the ocean can truly be remote. The mounds of trash on Rich’s Head were a vivid reminder of the ocean’s tremendous capacity to act as a conveyor belt that can swallow up and parcel out its cargo to the remote corners of the world. We found pieces of trash imprinted with a half-dozen different languages, and pieces of fishing gear that had undoubtedly come from all up and down the coast. In fact, while working on the beaches of Rich’s Head, Terry had told us that he and his crew had done a thorough cleanup of the very same site just three months before our arrival, which was a frightening reminder of how quickly trash can pile up.

It was incredibly satisfying to see the beaches transformed from a veritable garbage heap to their natural beauty over the course of our three-day cleanup project on Long Island. In total, we picked up 12,166 pieces of trash during our three-day cleanup of the Rich’s Head beaches.  However, despite the great work we were able to accomplish during our time on Long Island, our conversation with Terry about his unceasing efforts to keep Long Island debris-free left us with an important and sobering reminder of the importance of continuing to encourage responsible recycling practices.  It is important to remember that the Rozalia Project is only part of a broader coalition to clean the world’s ocean. Although it may seem hard to believe to a visitor of remote Frenchboro, the recycling decisions made by consumers of recyclable goods in Miami, Shanghai, Tokyo, and São Paolo all affect the health of Long Island’s beaches. To preserve the beauty of Rich’s Head, it is important for not only New England fishermen, but all those who enjoy the coasts of the world to realize their ocean-sized affiliation with one another.

This blog post was written by Rozalia Project's Embedded Journalist and little-bit-of-everything Intern, Conot Grant. Conor will be with us through the middle of July. Keep an eye on this page for more of Conor's experiences and observations as he travels with American Promise and Rozalia Project writing about our work (and getting his hands salty and sandy).