Also by jamess

Sim, US activist, writes again from the Esperanza.

In the months following the explosion and subsequent sinking of BP’s Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig, I spent nearly three weeks in Louisiana’s Gulf coast bearing witness and assisting in documentation of the largest oil spill in US history. I stayed on Grand Isle, a vacation and fishing community that was described to me by its inhabitants as paradise. But it was far from a paradise during my stay - with clean-up crews in white protective suits working around the clock to protect their coastline from the devastating effects of the oil spill and toxic sludge visible on the beaches and marshes. I got a brief glimpse of a way of life that will be deeply changed forever in the aftermath of the oil spill.

Sim from the USA, who is currently on board our ship the Esperanza, writes...

I’ve been aboard the Esperanza for several days now. Having made it through the humbling experience of being utterly incapacitated by seasickness (not a pleasant experience, lemme tell you), I've started to get my feet under me and am able to help out with the day to day workings of the ship.

Loading and stowing the gear for our expedition, helping oil the cable on one of the ship's three cranes, and getting into the rhythm of morning cleaning rotation have all given me a chance to get involved with the crew as well as our campaign team. As I've found most places, putting in your time cleaning seems central to making friends out here.

While our ship the Esperanza is busy confronting the oil industry, our colleages in the US are on the Arctic Sunrise in the Gulf of Mexico, researching the effects of the Deepwater Horizon spill. Paul - a longtime Greenpeace campaigner and campaign director at TckTckTck - updates us on how it's going.

It is just after five o'clock in the morning. I've just had a slice of toast and a cup of tea. The decks are wet from a recent downpour that has cooled the air somewhat. It is quiet, the ship and crew sleep. The 4 to 8 is the best watch. You get to see the sunrise and the sunset. But just now it is the darkness just before the dawn – just the harbour lights and the occasional lightning flash in the darkness.

With fake oil actions spilling out all over the place, it's high time someone did some skill sharing. Step up our international office with their "activist recipe for fake oil".

Basically, you mix up some molasses with some corn oil, corn starch, chocolate powder and some flour and away you go (well, there's a bit more to it than that - full recipe here).