When the Arctic Sunrise ship became visible in the horizon, still far way, tiny, sailing on the ocean in front of the hotel where I’m staying, I must confess that it made me pretty excited. Between phone calls and e-mails, and while I worked organizing the media attendance to register the moment, I would take a quick pause to watch that little spot on the ocean, getting closer, closer… until suddenly, there it was! The entire crew was on the side of the ship holding a huge banner with the theme for the expedition that we’re using in Brazil and pictures of the huge wind turbines that have been installed near the port.
The gang spent three days at sea, and many of them got really seasick—the Arctic is an ice breaker vessel and draws very high, which makes it swing a lot so that even the most experienced sailors can feel seasick—but everybody was there, happy, smiling and ready to do whatever was necessary. It’s a pleasure to see the gang working hard to further the project. Mari tells us about the arrival, in the expedition’s blog, from the perspective of those on board. I was in one of the two trawlers we had arranged to take the press to sea, near the ship, to get some images. We handed out Dramamine to prevent any embarrassments, and followed the Arctic until it docked at the Mucuripe Port. Tomorrow we’ll have a seminar on renewable energy on board the ship, with the participation of local public authorities, experts in the area (Steve Sawyer, from the Global Wind Energy Council will be there), and people from Greenpeace to discuss the potential of Ceara’s wind—the greatest potential in the country. I’m a little under the weather with a cold (thanks to that awful air-conditioner and today’s strong winds), so I’m going to stop here. I’m going to rest, read a bit, and listen to some music in my hotel room. The gang is on the ship, celebrating its arrival. A toast to everybody from here, with some orange juice, some vitamin C tablets and some propolis spray for my throat. Cheers!
Read this post at the O Escriba blog: Good winds bring the Arctic Sunrise to Fortaleza
