Blogposts tagged 'Esperanza'

I'm writing this from the lounge of the Esperanza, and as I look to my right out of a porthole I can see the coast of Greenland. It's 15 miles away but the mountains are so huge it feels like you could reach out and touch them. They are wholly white with snow, and just beyond them is one single huge block of ice as big as America – the Greenland ice-sheet.

I've spent the last 46 hours getting in and out of a big red survival suit. Its made out of the thickest wetsuit material and makes me look like a telly-tubby. I can't really move my hands, or arms, or feet, or turn my head, or speak, but it keeps me well toasty in the chilly Atlantic ocean.

Then I am put in a boat, someone squashes fins onto my feet and ten minutes later I am plopped into the sea at the bow of Chevron's drill ship, which we have stopped dead in the water. As I take up a good position at the bow, where the waves meet and I don't get too pushed around, it always reminds me of the wave machines I used to love as a kid, except none of them threw me up and down 5 metres or more.

Not all of us can scamper up an oil rig's anchor chain - but we can all come up with ideas, and we need yours asap.

As our occupation of Chevron's massive drill ship goes on, we want a banner slogan from you to explain what our politicians need to do about deep water drilling.

I've been at sea for five weeks now and can't wait to set foot on terra firma again and do all the things I've been missing. When I am on land I dream of being at sea and now I'm at sea - I can't stop thinking about getting back on land even though the Go Beyond Oil expedition has been really exciting so far.