Project Kaisei is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco and Hong Kong, established to increase the understanding and the scale of marine debris, its impact on our ocean environment, and how we can introduce solutions for both prevention and clean

The main focus is on the North Pacific Gyre, which constitutes a large accumulation of debris in one of the largest and most remote ecosystems on the planet. To accomplish these objectives, Project Kaisei is serving as a catalyst to bring together public and private collaborators to design, test and implement break-throughs in science, prevention and remediation.

Kaisei means “Ocean Planet” in Japanese, and is the name of the iconic tall ship that was one of the two research vessels in the August expedition. The other was the New Horizon, a Scripps Oceanography vessel that was arranged via a new collaboration between Project Kaisei and Scripps to provide additional research on the impacts of debris in the gyre.  Each vessel obtained a wide variety of samples from this part of the ocean which are now being analyzed. What was evident was the pervasiveness of small plastic debris that was found in every surface sample net that was used for regular sampling over 3,500 miles between the two vessels

Project Kaisei will launch its second Expedition to the North Pacific Gyre in August, where it will send multiple vessels to continue marine debris research, and in particular, to test an array of marine debris collection systems. Debris collected will be used to further study the feasibility of converting this to fuel or other useable material. 

Project Kaisai

http://www.projectkaisei.org/

My friend Janine is one of the main organizers of this voyage. She is working along side a hand-picked crew to prepare the ship for this three-week venture. Here are a few shots of the ship in port in the San Francisco bay area. Project Kaisai plans on returning through San Diego for the start of the tall ships festival in September and then back to San Francisco.

This is their location as of August 18th.

This is where the shit is collecting.

This is what is looks like.

Yea, it really has ropes (lines).

Arg matey.

Japanese for go collect some shit in the ocean.

Janine next to the ship.

Neighbor boats at the dock.

Amazingly beautiful yacht.

Next door this 1940s tug boat being refurbished by a group of guys.

Control panel.

Another boat down the dock.

Hopefully they won’t have to use this.

Rope monkeys will be climbing these.

Returning from last year’s voyage.

Kaisai in port getting ready to leave.

Kansai in full sail.

Stopped off in San Francisco for a day on the way to the Kaisai. Here are a few points of interest.

City in the fog.

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Bay Bridge.

San Francisco Port.

City scape.

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Golden Gate Bridge.

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From a distance.

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Golden Gate Bridge.

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B&W version.

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China Town.

China Town gate.

Here are some other crazy things I saw in San Francisco.

Practicing being held up by this guy on the bike.

Sculpture outside City Hall.

Down at the harbor.

Palace Hotel.

Great woman at great door.

Looking out the window from the 35th floor room at the hotel.

Quite the view.

That’s the Giants playing the Dodgers in the back lighted area.

Don’t jump.

Had to visit the Cable Car Museum. This is where all of the cable cars get their power throughout the city. This one power house spins the cables on the three cable lines. There is quite a hum in this building as miles of cables spin through at 9.5 miles per hour.

Powerful wheels spin the cables.

Another view.

Looking back.

Models of vintage cars.

Restored car.

One of the first cars.

Cable car truck assembly.

Boated by Alcatraz on the way to Saulsalito. Quite the sinister place.

Great shot with the sun on the glass.

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Right across the water from the island.

Here are some of the crazy things I spotted in stores in China Town.

Jewel encrusted lobster.

Chinese guards.

Market decorations.

Clothes.

More clothes.

And then this.

There are a lot of cool transportation choices in San Francisco. I did them all.

Old school street cars.

Cable cars.

Turning around.

Another old school street car.

I’m going up that street on the cable car.

Shoot past.

Waiting.

This was very steep.

Disconcertingly steep down.

Of course I had to do the tourist things like Lombard Street. So here it is.

From the top.

In the middle.

All the way up.

Coming from New Orleans I thought I’d seen it all. But I was wrong. While walking through San Francisco, I stumbled upon a Chinese funeral procession with a second-line marching band. They weren’t playing “A Closer Walk With Thee” or “Amazing Grace” but it was culturally cool.

Getting ready to march.

Empty your spit valve.

Stopping traffic for blocks.

While in New Orleans I checked out the World War II museum. It’s quite the sobering event to see the hardship, struggle, and human misery that was inflicted on the world by power-hungry fanatics. Everyone should visit this museum at some time in their life. You will come away with the appreciation that war is not the answer to peace in our time. The brutality and human sacrifice that is exhibited (for those of us who weren’t there) is numbing. Here are a few photos.

C-47 transport.

Recruitment posterd.

Honolulu newspaper.

Japanese propaganda posters.

American propaganda posters.

Comparison of troop levels at the start of the war.

American weapons.

Japanese weapons.

German weapons

D-Day.

American soldiers in Germany.

New Orleans newspaper.

Japanese surrender.

USS Fanshaw Bay.

Dauntless Dive Bomber.

British Spitfire.

C-47 transport.

American tanks.

612th Field ARtillery pack mule

I Found A Dog On A Plane

Went to New Orleans again with Janine to hopefully go out into the gulf and put her dad’s ashes at sea in his favorite fishing and diving spot about twenty miles off the coast. But unfortunately, tropical storm Bonnie and the BP oil spill made that venture impossible. Still had a great time as you can In New Orleans. Got lucky with an upgrade and flew the red-eye from Anchorage, AK to Chicago and then on to New Orleans first class. My lucky night. So after a short meal, I snuggled down for a snooze. I had my inflatable neck pillow, eye patches, and headphones on and passed out. About 3:00 in the morning, I was awakened with something licking my hand (every guys dream). I pulled up my eye patch and looked down to find a dog had jumped up on my leg and wanted up in my lap. I picked him up, he gave me a couple of kisses, spun around a couple of times in my lap, put his head on my hands, and went to sleep. So what are you supposed to do, ring the flight attendant call button and announce a stray was on board? Upon arrival in Chicago at 6:00 AM the girl next to me awoke to find her pooch has escaped from his bag under the seat and was in my lap asleep. His name was Rocky and he was a four-month-old miniature Italian Greyhound. He had the body of a small Jack Russell with 18” legs. He looked like a baby deer. Rocky gave me a couple more kisses and back into his bag he went. Now I can say I found a dog on a plane.

I had to take a photo of poochy because no one was going to believe me.

Had a great view from the hotel looking down on the river bend in New Orleans. I spent plenty of time having “river time” sitting on a bench next to the river (Don’t have that opportunity in Alaska. All I get is “moose time”). The river was very busy this one afternoon and within thirty minutes all these ships passed by.

Visited the Insectarium in New Orleans. Couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see beautiful bugs on a pin.

Flying from Baton Rouge to Dallas/Ft.Worth we encountered an amazing thunder storm. This beast was miles wide and topped out at 35,000 feet. We flew around it of course with a smooth photo op.

As you can see from some of the photos, I got a new camera. It’s a big-shot Nikon with all the cool features you could ever want. These were some of the artsy photos I took.

Here is the first issue of “Real Alaskan Magazine.” True stories of what it’s like to live in the frozen North.

First issue.

Real Alaskan sea lions.

Alaskan bareback riding

Why they’re called Puffins.

Crabzilla.

Alaskan turtle races.

I saw this vehicle drive by and had to circle the parking lot to get a shot of the license plate. By the time I got to the car the driver had gone into the store. I can only imagine what got out of that vehicle.

What do you have to do to earn this nickname?

This beast?

Or this beast?

Oh my god, this beast?

Holy shit run away – not this beast again.

I love driving behind anyone on the road who has a brand new vehicle and a zest for life.

Yellow just isn’t dark enough for me.

Saw these two vehicles within 5 minutes of each other on the road in Anchorage. Can there be bigger assholes then these?

Driving a Hummer with Palin and NRA stickers, a WAR license plate and a Jesus fish.

Here is what some of these stickers say:

• I’ll cling to my GUNS and religion – You can have Obama
• Miss met yet? (photo of W)
• Rush is Right – Limbaugh 2012
• Criminals Prefer Unarmed Victims
• Real Presidents DON’T Apologize for Their Country
• Live Free or Die
• Miranda Rights for Terrorists?

Oh, and by the way, I’m a AAA member.

I began this travel blog over five years ago when I moved to France. I wanted let my friends know where I was and what adventures I was having around the world. It’s grown over the years to include hundreds of posts with thousands of photos. A lot of cool experiences and memories. Here are a few of the composite email images I have sent out to all of you over the years. Hope you enjoy them and look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Snow machining, fishing, tsunamis, and moose.

Prudhoe Bay, Arctic Circle, and bear.

New Orleans, roller derby, -15 degrees, and disco dancing.

Brazil & Argentina.

Barrow, AK and vampires.

Paragliding, shootin, running, and flowers.

Laguna Beach, Nixon, Sarah, Hung, and outer space.

Halloween, fire engines, Iditarod, Cancun, and Angel & Devil.

New Orleans, SoCal beaches, Jesus, Jazz Fest, wind turbines, and state prison.

This is my first fish. It’s a 27 pound halibut caught with my friend Steve Haber of Habervision Sunglasses. Steve took me out of Homer, AK to guide me on my first halibut hit. We went to some of his favorite fishing holes out in the bay and fished at 200 feet. Here’s a map of where we fished. Just the two of us and I didn’t get sick.

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In the middle of Kachemak Bay out toward sea.

I really caught this thing – and it’s a small one.

Big ones like this are frequently caught all yearlong.

Everyone should sleep easier these days – I am no longer on the TSA’s “No Fly List.” Thanks to editorials detailing my displeasure with George W. Bush a few years ago, I found myself on the “no fly list.” I thought Nixon was the last president to use government agencies to harass citizens who don’t agree with them. Well, up until recently, every time I went through an airport it was: “Take off your belt and open the front of your pants.” Then be patted down, metal detected, wiped down for explosives, and all my bags searched – every fucking time for three years. I finally ran into the head TSA guy at the Anchorage airport who told me what I needed to do to get off the list. What a bunch a bullshit if a middle-aged mild-mannered professor is put on the list by angry political hacks – who among us is safe? Apparently, there have been so many people put on the list by Bush’s people that when you now make an airline reservation there is a special “redress” field you can fill in with your “I’m not a terrorist” TSA number.

Since receiving this letter I haven’t been searched once. But I did kind of enjoy that open up the front of your pants in an airport thing.

Big Brother – George W. Bush – Keeping America safe.

It’s moose season in Anchorage, AK. Moose are everywhere. Here are the two cow moose with their calves that roam around my house. Got to be care when you go out in the morning to get in your car. They could be standing around the corner of the garage and scare the crap out of you as you get in the car. You don’t want a moose that close to you if you aren’t packing.

Check out the link below to the moose just after they were born.

See the baby moose link:

A few weeks ago and the calf is only a couple of days old.

Here’s the little guy in my driveway.

This is the teenager in the neighborhood. He’s two years old.

Mama with the little guy a weeks older.

Another shot.

This mama has two calves.

This is Mt. Redoubt – the one that erupted last year. I’m standing on a sand bar out int he bay off Homer, AK. Check out the link below to the other post on Mt. Redoubt.

Yes it’s June and I have on a jacket. Something’s wrong with this picture.

Mt. Redoubt link: