“Tell me why I don’t like Mondays” – this is a verse from The Boomtown Rats song that’s probably the worldwide anthem to an aversion against Mondays. Almost all of them, but not one for sure. Sunny Monday in mid-October 2019 was scheduled for our company to participate in Green Sail Team Event, that included regatta and sea clean-up. This event has gathered dozens of Croatian yacht charter companies and volunteers to clean sea bottom around port Milna on Brac island.
As usual, when we go somewhere with a sailing boat, we meet in ACI marina Split around 7 am, and supply the boat with food and drinks. After an hour we got in a position where the regatta was meant to start. Even though the weather was perfect, there was no wind at all so our regatta turned into a one hour floating close to the shores of the island Brač.
Since we all realized that continuing the regatta would be a waste of time, we decided to head towards Milna and start with the most important thing to do today – clean the sea bottom from different waste.
There were several spots for the sea clean-up. We were appointed to clean one cove some half-mile from the port. This cove is very much used for crewed vessels who overnight here when they have embarkation in Split the same day. Green Sail volunteers have equipped us with diving suits, masks, fins and we were ready to go for the cleaning. And trust us when we say – this is not an easy work to do.
Entire cleaning was very well organized. The ones from us who dived received a waste bag and started with waste collection. This was kind of a test for our lungs. It was a tiring work indeed. But it’s always like that with really good work, isn’t it?
The most of the waste we collected were metal scraps and some glass bottles. We even bled a bit due to some sharp objects. What was good is that we didn’t find too much plastic waste. This seems to be the worst kind of a waste for the sea. To be precise, we are thinking of microplastics.
These small plastic pieces smaller than 5 mm that are not biodegradable are the result of plastic pollution. They have a severe impact on ocean life and the fact that they were found many times in food we eat is terrifying. When you realize it, it really gives you some thoughts.
Other crews were enough “lucky” to find car tires and different kinds of fishing equipment. When the cleaning was finished, all waste was gathered in one place and all of us who participated in Green Sail Event were filmed from a drone.
When we took photos and returned to the place the waste was collected and saw the pile of it, our feelings were mixed. It makes you sad and happy in the same time. You are sad to see what kind of stuff people throw in the sea and how disrespectful this kind of behaviour is. On the other hand, you are happy to do the opposite. You are proud of yourself because you did something good for the environment.
While we watched the sunset, we exchanged our opinions on today’s sea clean-up and figured out that our perception of environmental issues and challenges has changed. To better, of course. From our perspective, people who are living of tourism, this is a kind of obligation to do. We are living from nature’s beauties and wonders. And it’s about time we do much more about their preservation.
After the good work, talk and glass of wine, we felt quite hungry. Green Sail has organized a dinner for us. Food was top-notch and after good food, there was good music. We left to the boat around midnight and overslept in Milna.
We woke up around 6.30 am and 30 minutes later we were on our way to Split. We arrived in Split at 8 am and headed to our offices. You don’t come to work every day on a sailing boat from the island. And trust us when we say that early morning sailing awakens much better than a coffee. Short walk to the offices was a perfect time, to sum up all the thoughts. Adriatic Sea is still being quite clean and the utmost task of all of us, wherever we come from, is to preserve it for the future generations. Every one of us has the choice of how we are going to treat nature. And keep in mind – you reap what you sow. Check our infographic and find out how long does it take for trash to decompose in the sea:
