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Freddy - 2nd engineer
2006-12-13 04:22:04
Freddy 3rd Engine er / Electrician (Arctic Sunrise) Mar del Plata, Argentina How did you come to work for Greenpeace? I came to the Greenpeace ships on March 19th 2002 to this same ship which was moored in Melbourne, Australia. Before that I worked for years for a nasty oil tanker company. The tanker I was due to join was delayed and while waiting I met by coincidence a schoolmate I hadn't seen for years who was sailing with Greenpeace. To keep it short, when the tanker company called to tell me the oil tanker had arrived I told them I wouldn't embark because I was joining a Greenpeace ship. They didn't like it. What do you love most about working on the Greenpeace ships? I like to live in a Babel Tower where you see people from all around the globe working as a team but at the same time keeping their own culture or whatever predominant culture they have left.
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Zeger - 3rd mate
2006-12-13 04:22:04
3rd Mate - (Esperanza) Netherlands Hello my name is Zeger; I am 3rd mate on board of the Esperanza. Most of the time I am sailing as skipper on a traditional sailing barge in Holland. We try to give people a nice holiday on board, and make them a little bit more aware of their natural environment, its beauty’s and its threats. In winter time I sometimes sail on Greenpeace ships which is very important to me because it gives life this extra meaning, the feeling you can do something for the environment, make a little difference. The reason I like to do this via Greenpeace is that they are mainly focused on our Oceans, which is where life began. We are only starting to understand what is in them. You don't want to destroy the oceans and their contents. At least I don't.

Pete - Captain
2006-12-13 04:22:04
© Greenpeace/Gleizes Pete - Captain Cornwall (UK) I've been involved with Greenpeace since 1978, and helped convert the Sir William Hardy which became the Rainbow Warrior, and sailed on her first voyage. I also became Captain on that voyage. She was the first ship that we had in Europe and she eventually came to a violent and untimely end on the bottom of Auckland harbour. The first campaign I ever did was against the building of Torness Nuclear Power Station in Scotland and from there we went to Iceland and an anti-whaling campaign. My last campaign was about oil transportation and pirate fishing in the Barents Sea. I've been involved with many campaigns over the years. The environmental abuses which Greenpeace challenges and takes action over, have taken me into all the world's oceans and a good many of the countries bordering them. I've worked on Campaigns from Antarctica to the Arctic, in the Amazon and other rivers and ports and coastal waters throughout...

Starship Esperanza and the Plasma Cutter
2006-12-13 04:22:04
By Helena, onboard the EsperanzaCaptain Picard...I mean, PeteAs I roam the corridors I keep hearing talk of an impending plasma cutter delivery. When I overhear Captain Pete and first mate Paul discussing the 'plasma cutter' I realise things are starting to resemble a Star Trek episode and I am now on the Stars hip Esperanza with Captain Pete Picard and Klingon Paul, and their trusty radio operator Spock. The plasma cutter might come in handy as we navigate through the upcoming Pacific asteroid field. Not only will it lead us through wormholes and warp space-time, it is really good for cutting steel. While the latter function excites the engineers, the former is the one I am holding my breath for. I mean who doesn't want to be engage in some time travel?
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I was there: how the Southern Ocean Sanctuary came to be
2006-12-11 16:20:01
© Greenpeace/Jeremy Sutton-HibbertJohn Frizell at the IWC in 2005, with a tie and a nice dry suitOver the next few weeks we'll be bringing you stories from the Esperanza as well as from some of our deskbound warriors. As we leave Puerta Vallarta in Mexico, and prepare to confront whaling in the South ern Ocean , our resident whales guru John Frizell reflects on how the Southern Ocean Sanctuary was created when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) met in this very place in 1994. It had been a long road to the 1994 IWC meeting in Puerto Vallarta. Two years before, when I raised the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary with one powerful delegation, I had promptly been put in my place. ?Find me one country, just one, that?s backing this and I?ll listen to you.? A year later, when France proposed the Southern Ocean sanctuary, support was growing but it was not strong. When the IWC held a vote that could not approve the sanctuary, but could kill it off, we were lucky to survive.
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Introducing Helena
2006-12-11 16:20:01
By Helen a , your new webby onboard the EsperanzaYou might recognise Helena as "that girl in the helmet on the Greenpeace homepage"Hello. Hola. I am really here. So its time to bid farewell to wonderful webby Irene. I am still trying to find ways I can trick her into staying onboard. I?ve toyed with the idea of force ? locking her in the storeroom but there?s no room as we just provisioned for our next leg at sea. Now I am working with the idea of persuasion - stringing up a hammock and offering free sunset cocktails. It seems to work for Puerto Vallarta ? although I can?t really offer the beaches fringed with palm trees and nightclubs with blaring music.
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Sanctuary under siege
2006-12-11 10:19:01
by Karli, disembarking the Esperanza It has been three weeks onboard the Esperanza in the Gulf of California, and as I pack up my cabin and do my laundry, it is sad to leave the ship. At the end of our time in Mexico, we are in Puerto Vallarta and it feels right. It is a symbolic place to close this chapter of Defending Our Oceans and open the next - a return to the Southern Ocean to confront the whale hunters.
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Hello - swoosh - goodbye
2006-12-10 22:18:01
by Irene, onboard the Esperanza Handing over to HelenaFriends would argue that my sense of time has always been off, but I swear, time just ?swooshed? by . It feels like I came onboard yesterday, but it has been almost a month of sailing in the Gulf of California. Anther leg of the Ocean defenders expedition has reached its end, and the Esperanza will soon leave Mexico. Crewmembers get off the ship, and others join.
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What now in the World's Aquarium?
2006-12-09 22:17:01
by Irene, onboard the Esperanza © Greenpeace/Alex Hofford We have started the process of suing the Los Cabos project. Jorge Buch, director of the project, has publicly announced that their constructions are perfectly legal, that they have all the permits required and that they even have the support of green NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations). The one NGO mentioned by name is Pronatura, where Sanchez Navarro, the owner of Questro Group also happens to be a board member. Funny that. This morning there was a scent of land was in the air - trees! Haven't seen anything but sea and cacti during the last few weeks.
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Heading east
2006-12-09 22:17:01
by Irene, onboard the Esperanza We are sailing eastwards across the Gulf of California. Tomorrow we arrive at Puerto Vallarta. I've put together a little slideshow, with some of the pictures not posted previously.        
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Fuelling the crew
2006-12-09 22:17:01
by Nina, onboard the Esperanza Nina baking.Today I got a different job to do as usual: I got to work with our cook Jim. It was not the first time I worked in the galley. Galley means kitchen onboard the Esperanza. Since Yohena, the cook assistant, went ashore, he needed some help. We decided together that I would be the right person for that. Since Paul and I cooked for the whole crew on Sunday only one week ago, I felt nearly at home in the galley.
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Action against destructive development in Los Cabos
2006-12-06 04:14:01
by Irene, onboard the Esperanza © Greenpeace/Alex HoffordWe got up ridiculously early, and when I half asleep jumped in the boat it was still dark, with a bright full moon over the mountains of Baja Peninsula. I could see it through the tiny openings in the upper part of my face, situated under the puffy pads we usually refer to as "eyelids".
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Windy Sunday
2006-12-05 10:12:03
by Irene, onboard the Esperanza "Signal meaning 'bad sandwich?'"©: Greenpeace/Alex HoffordThis morning I was woken up by a howling wind - I half expected to see a pack of wolves dash through a snowstorm on the tundra. Luckily we didn?t drift quite that far during the night; Isla del Carmen was still there, and lots of white foam on the waves. It took a while to get the anchor up because of the strong winds. The ship moves back and forth, and when the anchor lets go of the sea bottom she starts to drift a little. This time the wind moved her further away from the island, which is better than moving against the shore of course. It is important to keep an eye on the position of the anchor chain, and there is a lot of mysterious hand signaling going on between the crew by the anchor winch and the bridge.
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Nina - Volunteer deckhand
2006-12-04 22:11:02
From: Germany My name is Nina and I live in the beautiful capital of Bavaria, Munich, which is in the south of Germany. I am 25 years old and study politics, drama and German literature. I joined the crew in La Paz. For the last three months previous to that I was a trainee at Greenpeace in Germany. It is my first time on the Esperanza and it should not be the last. Now I look forward to staying on the ship for a while. My favourite place onboard the Esperanza: anywhere outside! I work for Greenpeace, because I believe in a better world. I grew up with organic food and spend the recent years in the countryside in a small town with only a hundred people called Diemendorf. Since then, I guess, I started to love nature and the environment around me. This is how I spend my last free time before I have to go back to Germany to finish my studies. But nobody knows what comes after!
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Isla del Carmen
2006-12-04 22:11:02
by Irene, onboard the Esperanza Download: Puffer fish wallpaper >>Today we arrived at Isla del Carmen , which is part of the Bahía de Loreto National Park. Around 40% of all the marine species living in the whole of the Gulf of California can be found here. Gavin, Alex and Alejandro jumped in the water, and once again I wished that I was a diver. The water temperature was around 23 degrees and the visibility better than expected. There are not a lot of divers coming here - most of them stay further south.
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The "Get out if You Can Canal"
2006-12-03 04:08:05
by Irene, onboard the Esperanza © Greenpeace/Alex HoffordWe are now passing through the Cana l de Ballenas - the Whale Canal . And there they are - sperm whales on starboard. And there are dolphins too. Fantastic. But it makes me think: If there are whales in the whale canal, what can we expect from the next one? The next canal we pass through is called the Sal Si Puedes Canal - the "Get out if You Can Canal". Once upon a time some navigator must have gotten himself in serious trouble there, for the passage to earn such a name.
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Quiet morning
2006-12-02 16:08:09
by Matt, onboard the Esperanza [Irene: The other morning I found a few handwritten notes scribbled on small pieces of paper by my laptop - I of course assumed it was a passionate love letter from a secret admirer. It wasn?t, but here you go, I typed it] © Greenpeace/Alex HoffordAround the anchor light on the foremast, two seabirds are banking and turning gently. The wind has been up all night, the anchor dragging slowly through the mud of San Felipe. Day break, my watch is nearing a close and everything is relaxing.
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Save the seafood - video
2006-12-02 16:08:09
by Irene, onboard the Esperanza According to Dr. Jeremy Jackson we need "an utterly different attitude on how we use our oceans". Over fishing poses a greater threat than toxic pollution, but all is not lost if we make drastic changes now and protect large sea areas. Check out the interview with Dr. Jackson Global network of Marine Reserves anyone? (thanks for the video spotting, eagle-eye Andrew!)
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Fish for shrimp and catch a sea lion
2006-12-02 16:08:09
by Irene, onboard the Esperanza Pangas outside San Felipe.© Greenpeace/Alex HoffordLast night we were anchored outside San Felipe, a small town in the northernmost part of the sea of Cortez where shrimp fishing is an important source of income. This part of the Gulf is also home to an endangered endemic marine mammal called "vaquita" ("little cow" in Spanish).
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Isabel Leal - Media Officer
2006-12-02 16:08:09
From: Spain Hi!, I'm Isabel, I'm a journalist and my role on the MY Esperanza is to liaise with the media to tell what Greenpeace is doing and why. Having the opportunity to be part of a Greenpeace team on a ship and witness the life in the oceans on site instead of through a computer screen is a privilege -the chance to develop your profession with something you feel committed to is a luxury these days.
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Paloma - Volunteer Deckhand
2006-12-02 16:08:09
From: Spain My name is Palo ma. I'm from Colmebar Viejo, a town in Madrid. I'm a volunteer deckhand. Here I work on deck, keeping the ship tidy, helping the people who have more experience and learning a lot of new things about the Esperanza. As well, when we are sailing, I am a watch keeper during 4 hours during a night, working with Nadia, the second mate.
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The Sea of Cortez
2006-12-02 16:08:09
By Frank, captain on the Esperanza Sunrise in the Sea of Cort ez© Greenpeace/Alez Hofford Every now and then people ask me if I still enjoy sailing after 25 years at sea, and usually when this question is asked I just look around me to see where we are. Sometimes when the ship is at sea with nothing around the answer to the question is easy: Yes - I love being at sea. When the ship is in port with all the silly things us humans find important or at sea where people left their footprint one way or another it is often more difficult to enjoy being a sailor.

VIVA MEXICO - GREAT NEWS!
2006-12-02 16:08:09
Posted by Irene, onboard the Esperanza Sea lions, Espíritu Santo© Greenpeace/Alex HoffordToday we clap our flippers: the Mexican Minister of Agriculture finally signed the decree that makes the island of Espíritu Santo and the surrounding area - including the seamount of El Bajo - a Marine Reserve. This marks the end of a process that has been ongoing for the last 2.5 years.
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Marc - Boat Mechanic
2006-12-02 16:08:09
From: USA/Denmark This year marks my 20th year in Greenpeace. 20 years ago in October I started working for Greenpeace in Auckland New Zealand for the Antarctic campaigns. My first ship was the MV Greenpeace. Ken Ballard gave me an introduction and my first tour of the ship which was docked at that time on the viaduct in downtown Auckland. The first Rainbow Warrior was docked just beside us. Chris Robinson was cleaning her up. I found out later she was due to be scuttled in the Bay of islands, damaged beyond repair from the sabotage of the year before. I was new to Greenpeace new to the Southern Ocean and I must say my first days at sea were not pleasant. My first voyage was to the base camp on Ross Island in Antarctica to make a re-supply and drop off the new team and retrieve the overwinterers from the year before. Leaving New Zealand we sailed into the roaring 40's with a gale blowing right on our bow. Nolan Loveridge told me I looked as Green as a Kiwi as I struggled to ...
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Tank 7 gone evil
2006-12-02 16:08:09
Posted by Irene, onboard the Esperanza It is a fortunate fact for you dear reader that smells can?t be broadcasted over the internet (yet). Something has gone horribly wrong in the sewage system, and the result is mainly noticeable in the shower closest to our cabin. There is a mysterious haze, and strange noises were earlier heard from the drain. And the stench will haunt me in my worst nightmares. It was suggested we sacrifice a virgin to mitigate the wrath of the evil stinky monster who lives down there. However none was to be found. Or at least nobody volunteered. It is not all pretty sunsets out here.
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Frank - Captain
2006-12-02 16:08:09
Fran k - Captain From: the Netherlands Hi - my name is Frank and I am the new Captain of the ship. Not that it is my first trip on the Esperanza, but it always exciting to get back to her, especially when the ship is doing a year long ocean campaign, which is my favorite issue to work on. I am from the Netherlands and first went to sea as a ship's boy when I was 17 years old to see what it was like - I've been sailing ever since. I came to Greenpeace having had direct experience of the oil industry - towing oil rigs from Borneo to the Nigerian river delta and bringing flareblooms to oil rigs in the North Sea. I've now worked on numerous Greenpeace campaigns around the world; from climate campaign work in the Arctic Ocean, to surveying the Persian Gulf after the "oil war" in Kuwait, and anti-whaling work in the Southern Oceans.
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Ruth - Logistics
2006-12-02 16:08:09
From: Mexico
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Karli - Campaigner
2006-12-02 16:08:09
From: New Zealand I'm an oceans campaigner at Greenpeace International in Amsterdam. But I'm from New Zealand, which I guess is why I work for Greenpeace - when the Rainbow Warrior got blown up in Auckland and New Zealand became nuclear free I first started to feel strongly about political and environmental issues. I also grew up in a little house about five meters from the sea, which explains the "oceans" part of why I do what I do.
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Irene - onboard webbie
2006-12-02 16:08:09
From: Sweden/Finland I live in Stockholm, Sweden, but was once upon a time born in Finland. I maintain these weblogs and try to tell you what we are up to. To prevent my eyes from going rectangular I sometimes help out on deck, and I have a new career as the ships hairdresser (Karli and Irene ´s salon - massage and haircuts). If you spot crew with funny hair, you know who to blame. I take onboard smelly beach findings, which probably rules me out as best cabin mate of the year.
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Philippines leg highlights
2006-09-02 12:24:05
by Heike onboard the Esperanza ©Gavin Newman/Greenpeace 31 days, eight different places, ten marine reserves, 67 fishing boats in the flotilla against Lafayette Mine, one whaleshark, more than 250 000 liters of oil spilling from a sunken tanker - the Phil ippines have been a stakkato of events for the Esperanza. We witnessed all life in the ocean between disaster in Guimaras and paradise in Apo Island. We were welcomed by the local population with flower garlands, songs, dance, poems - and shouted at and spit in the face by the staff of Lafayette Mine. The Esperanza has moved the Philippines and the Philippines have moved us. Have a look at the highlights between Manila and Cebu:
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