All entries under Sails

I came aboard the 2041 Wednesday night in Portland, for my first night at sea on a sailboat in my life. As expected, living on a boat is kind of like camping – need to save water and electricity, can’t really shower, don’t want to get injured or eaten being so far from a hospital . . . except that our “tent” never stops moving. I’ve done a pretty good job of ensuring the bumps on my head are symmetrical, and tonight sured up my friendship with our deckhand, Jakie, by launching a cup of hot tea onto his crotch while he was peacefully watching a movie. On a positive note, the enjoyable surprise of the night was most certainly eating fresh baked cookies (in the middle of the ocean!), which Hannah graciously made for all of us.

Of course, living at sea comes with a few disappointing reality checks.

This morning we all performed our designated chores, and I learned that cleaning a bathroom on a boat, while deceptively small and simple looking, is no easier than at home. As a new member of the crew I wanted to do a good job, so I tried cleaning all the hard to reach places, and obtained my first battle wound when the toilet bit me as I tried to reach underneath it to give a good scrubbing. Luckily, Maura (ie mom) was around to immediately ensure I clean it properly and apply a band-aid.

Last but not least, we’re seeing and discussing various forms of clean/renewable energy that are on board, and it’s clear that we are (technologically) still in a state of transition. While we are on a “sail” boat, we’ve been using the diesel engine (run on vegetable oil) the vast majority of my time so far, since there has been almost no wind. Wind is incredibly useful and powerful, but when we’re on a schedule, we need to resort to the old fashioned engine – and engine exhaust is unpleasant no matter what you burn. The combination of wind-power and a fuel-powered engine seems to be a good model for other boats or even cities. We’re using another biofuel, alcohol, for cooking in the kitchen; again, while renewable, convenient and fairly energy dense, it’s still important to cook (as with any fuel) in a well-ventilated kitchen. To summarize, we have wind, solar, and biofuels to help provide our energy needs aboard – none of them are “silver bullets”, but each have their advantages, and all are fully functioning symbols of how we can meet 100% of our essential energy needs without encouraging (through spending money) assistance from fossil fuel dominated electrical lines or fueling stations.

Bret Strogen
PhD Student, Environmental Engineering
University of California, Berkeley