No.
It’s not for me
to approach the water in that way.
I’m afraid not.
I wouldn’t say when we started paddling
that was in our mind.
It’s a cheap way of getting onto the sea.
Affordability is why I’m interested.
We didn’t have to spend a lot of money on fuel.
It was more economic than environmental,
not an environmental consideration,
not a conscious one.
I wasn’t thinking I’m helping the environment
by not having a big motor.
I wasn’t thinking that.
It’s to do with silence.
It’s what I have available to get that fix of fun.
You need the cars.
I don’t feel bad about using a bit of carbon.
No.
There’s a change of weather in terms of wind
and a change of species in the ocean.
The big one is the unpredictability of the climate.
We’re getting a lot less long stable periods.
We’re getting a lot of strong winds
and inclement weather,
milder, wetter spells in summer,
drier stormier winters,
greater change between heat and cold,
more severe storms coming through,
less predictable winds,
more intense periods of instability.
Changing temperature has an impact
on lobster fishermen, creel boats.
More warming means increasing challenges.
It’s not just something affecting other people
or other times
or the future.
This is real,
this is happening
and we’re experiencing it.
Climate change is such a big thing.
We’re living through it.
It’s happening now.
I wrestle with that problem.
It’s not a nice topic.
If people don’t experience these places
will they want to protect them?
The sport is carbon neutral
but getting to and fro certainly isn’t.
It’s both low carbon and also not.
We’ve got the carbon footprint
of getting from A to B.
I’ll put my boat on the roof of my car and drive.
I say this with full knowledge of hypocrisy.
I encourage tourists to travel.
Is that a crazy unsustainable thing to do?
I can’t get my head around it all.
I’m worried.
I had a real crisis of faith.
It scares me because I don’t understand.
One of the things that gives me hope is
how much information we are gathering.
It is slowly being communicated.
It’s not going fast enough
but it’s coming to the fore.
We have greater public awareness.
I think that does offer some hope.
Yeah.
My sailing buddies say ‘Just stick the engine on!’
and I say, ‘No, that’s not what we’re here for.’
I use renewable energy, solar and wind
for all the navigation electronics.
My boat has never been plugged into the mains.
I monitor how little fossil fuel we use.
It’s nice that we don’t have to use an engine
to just go out and do exercise.
I would support anything happening ecologically.
I recognise it’s very important.
We have to be sensitive
to both local community and environment.
That’s something I’m passionate about.
It’s a principle I hold dearly.
Yes.
The sea, in a deep way, enables you to feel
part of a big blue planet,
that sense of what a tiny mite you are
on this big beautiful blue ball.