#16 – Sri Lanka
September 03, 2010
Location: Trincomalee, Sri Lanka
We arrived Sri Lanka in a stiff breeze and danced gaily into Galle Harbor where we remained for 3 weeks! During this time, everyone had a much needed break visiting glorious rainforest mountains, tea plantations and savannah’s with roaming elephants; hosted a local school onboard Mir; and visited in Trincomalee the home of W.P. Thunga Prema who had worked with me and the National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARA) to set up a marine mammal sanctuary back in the 1980’s.
Our program back then included studies of blue whales, sperm whales and a severe by-catch by the local fishermen of dolphins and beaked whales. Between the years of 1982 and 1984, we estimated that about 38,0000 cetaceans were killed annually off the coast of Sri Lanka by gill nets. By 1985, this had dropped to nearly nothing suggesting that the near-offshore populations had been decimated. Sri Lanka is not alone in this terrible crisis. Since the 1950’s cotton gill nets had been replaced around the world with synthetic nets and not only cetaceans, but turtles, sharks and other sea creatures have become continuous prey to these unbreakable nets.
We sat with Thunga Prema’s family expressing our concerns and love for our blue planet and were awed by his youngest daughter’s flute playing. W.P. Sachintha Sathyangani had recently been awarded “second” in all of Sri Lanka for her talent.
– Abigail Alling
#17 – An odyssey within an odyssey September 18, 2010 Lat.: 59’62 – Long.: 03’51 Time: 18h15
The symbol embedded in a blue marble, spaceship earth, passes through the layers of oceanic water, to meet a point in the middle of our journey across the Bay of Bengal. Resting there in its “home” at the bottom of the ocean it will continue traveling through space as we are all traveling through space onboard spaceship earth. With the throw of the marble I have reversed an “old” karmic past from my last visit in Sri Lanka. This has been a journey of contemplation – the seas have been calm for us all to harvest the last year and prepare for new beginnings.
We are 500 miles from the nearest land, with kind seas and favorable winds. Dolphins are visiting us everyday, encouragement and support in our collective and individual dreams. I keep seeing water babies, a seed planted ages ago that are now ready to sprout. An odyssey, within an odyssey, within an odyssey within an odyssey. The future is unknown, and anything is possible. – Michel Lippitsch
#18 – Equinox September 22, 2010 Lat.: 06’14 – Long.: 94’24 Time: 17h05
Between the Nicobar Islands and Sumatra, between the nations of India and Indonesia, between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, between Sri Lanka and Singapore, between sky and water, sailing gracefully through “the Great Channel”, the Blue Marble dropped deep, past the diving dolphins dancing around the bow, and a big broken bucket bobbing by. It has been an honor and joy to sail with this crew and witness these waters. Sea and skies are mixing from steely greys and majestic thick blues, to the hypnotic light translucent hues and twinkling stars that lift the spirit and free the mind. Here is a space that elemental forces reign, where wind, water, sun and moon beat the drum to which we sway. The clouds heaping up on the horizon indicate the approach to land and the distant waterspout demonstrates the powers at play. Equinox was yesterday and full moon tomorrow and in early evening we steer from Venus and Mars towards Jupiter. Sails are raised and set according to wind, wave and swell by a strong and capable crew. In this wilderness human evidence is constant, through seeing as much rubbish (plastic wrappers and plastic water bottles) as dolphins, and more container ships and tankers than whales. Where are they all coming from, where do they go? The answers are clear if we dare to look. May one day humans find a balance to share these oceans with the native marine mammals, fish and invertebrates and may future generations not wallow in wasted plastic but be blessed with opportunities to see whales breach, dolphins twirl, fish leap, and experience the realm of the blue. – Carol Milner
#19 – Malacca Strait September 26, 2010 Lat.: 03’17 – Long.: 100’13 Time: 20h15 
The dropping of my first blue marble in the Mediterranean happened in the presence of a novice crew. On land, we worked as one cohesive unit and were a great team, this much we knew. One thing we had not yet faced was the test of the oceans torment.
Four months later I found myself dropping my second blue marble in the presence of the same crew. However, the previously new crew had morphed into sailing aces by huge swells, extreme heat, high winds and sleepless nights. The typically fast paced life and noisy banter from the navigation room all ceased for about two hours that Sunday night for dinner. The deafening sound of silence drowned out the sounds of our thoughts. The wind died down to a slight breeze and the water appeared to be thick black oil that’s stubbornness overpowered any and all of the breeze’s influence. Tonight we dropped one of our final marbles during a very meaningful Sunday night dinner. It would be our last Sunday night dinner we shared on the sea as the original crew of Mir. The surrounding silence took over the night and became the tenth member of the crew sitting on deck with the engine off, the sails down, and drifting in the Malacca Strait. – Woody Heffern
#20 – Arriving Singapore October 01, 2010 Lat.: 01’20 – Long.: 103’38 Time: 21h30
It was last March that we placed our first blue marble in Bali and that we hatched the idea of dropping blue marbles all along the way of Mir’s maiden voyage. Now seven months, roughly 6,000 nautical miles, and twenty blue marbles later, we have arrived at our final destination (for now) of Singapore. It was hard to imagine last March that this day would ever come and it is equally hard to believe that it actually has.
On our second evening after arriving at Raffles Marina in Singapore we celebrated our accomplishment with champagne on deck of Mir, and our good friend Yves De Leeneer joined us. Yves was a huge help to this project all along the way, and even made a trip all the way to Malta to help us with Mir’s re-fit, so it was only appropriate that he be waiting for us at the end of this long journey. We all told stories of the voyage and of the re-fit in Malta, and throughout all of the tales and laughter and champagne a blue marble sat listening in the center of our circle beneath the light of the kerosene lanterns. At the end of the evening Yves did the honor of throwing this blue marble into the harbor beside Mir. Mir is taking a well-deserved break now, and will remain at Raffles until late January, 2011 before heading on to re-connect with that first marble that waits patiently beside the mooring in Bali.
To be continued…
– Sam Scott
