Sea Freedom – Be a part of a Cleaner Sea

An Ocean of Waste

There is around 150 million metric tons of plastic in our oceans right now, with 8 million metric tons entering it annually. Mind-blowing and terrifying, isn’t it?

In the Adriatic Sea, the highest estimate is that there are 30,000 tons of plastic floating around, destroying ecosystems and making a mess of our only home, planet Earth.

This year, I visited my second home (and the one dearest to my heart), Vodice, Croatia, which is a beautiful coastal town on the Dalmatian coast about 100 kilometers from Split.

Quaint, lovely, and full of history, Vodice and its surrounding regions boast some of the most pristine beaches, which themselves are characteristic of the Dalmatian coast.

Or, at least I thought they were pristine.

Making a Disheartening Discovery

Tagging along with a local barba (local name for older men in the region, particularly those who have very sturdy sea legs, having spent all their lives on boats) on an early-morning trip around the local islands, I packed up my scuba gear in hopes of exploring the seabed of the nearest island from the coast. I was excited to be able to be up close to some of the wonders of Dalmatia’s waters.

However, as soon as I dove in, my excitement turned to despair.

What did I see at the bottom of the sea? It wasn’t fish and mollusks and prawns and sea urchins…it was a whole bunch of other people’s trash. Not just a stray piece of plastic, but enough to fill a bag (kindly provided to me by the barba to help collect the garbage). It made me angry and sad, but it also lit a fire under me to do as much as I can to stop it.

The Decision

As soon as I got home, I was on a mission. I’d made a decision to find a way to begin cleaning up my (and your) sea in whatever way I can. Within weeks, I hit the books and began in earnest to work towards earning a boating license. And I got it! Now, my next step is to find and purchase a boat to be able to travel back and forth to Vodice’s islands (and beyond?) anytime I am there to help clean up.

The boat I’m looking to buy is nothing fancy, just a simple, small pasara with a 9.9hp engine (pictures attached). Enough to get me to where I need to go and do what I can to help clean up the coastline and shores.

With your help, the Sea Freedom project hopes to collect just enough money to fund the purchase of the boat and set it in motion. My hope is that this one-man project will also then turn into something more, inspiring others to do the same to protect not only the Adriatic coast, but all of our seas, rivers, lakes, and oceans.

How You Can Help

It may seem like a blip in the grand scheme of things (and in the terrifying reality of how much trash there really is in our waters), but a small step has the power to make enormous waves. It just needs to be taken.

Whatever you can pitch in, I’ll be eternally grateful, and to continue inspiring me to keep going, I plan on:

• making a collage book with all the selfies or messages you send with your donations, to continue to remind me who helped contribute to a cleaner Adriatic. This book will sit tightly within the boat so that anyone will be able to look at it and always be reminded of those that helped.
• making an Instagram profile to post pictures of all the garbage I take out, in hopes that this will help inspire others to do the same.
• upon reaching the the desired goal, in light of doing this project together - I will also gladly name this vessel Sea Freedom, which will be imprinted on the hull.

I will be setting money aside each month for this project as well, 50 EUR a month, maybe more if I am able to do so.

If you’re not able to donate but would still like to help, always make sure to throw away your garbage correctly, not just leave it after you on the beach or throw it in the water, and, if and where you can, try to reduce the amount of plastics that you use.

Thank you for your support!