Ed Bear helps Ed Wade Martin share his adventures at Cardinal Newman School UK

Hi all




As you know I travelled to the Atlantic Ocean last year as part of the crew on the Moondancer as we sailed south along the eastern seaboard of the Atlantic Ocean. We saw some amazing wildlife and I experienced all sorts of sea and weather conditions and learned first hand where wind comes from, what makes waves, why sea mist forms and much more. You can see this and some of the amazing wildlife we encountered in my earlier blog entries Sept to December 2015.You can also see more at http://moondancersailing.com/ed-the-bear/




I arrived back in the UK end of January in time to take part in the Brighton Science festival in February.




Anyway, I went along with Ed Wade Martins, Skipper of the Moondancer, to help him deliver his Key note speech for the Brighton & Hove Environmental Education Project schools conference at Cardinal Newman school. We talked about the sailing trip and about the issues of plastics in the oceans and the whole thing went down really well.

Here is a short video me made at the school. We have lots of great footage of the voyage which we are working on and will have more great stuff to show soon.




In January I will be returning to the Atlantic Ocean with the Moondancer and the rest of the crew for more adventures.

Musical interlude

Hi all

I'm really getting into being part of the crew and that means taking part in the music too. 

 Unfortunately I am bit too small to play a musical instrument but I joined in with all the

'yar la lay’s'

Click the link  Becalmed Feat. The Commodore

Atlantic Ocean from Spain to Portugal.

Wow, its been a wild ride so far, calm days and sun sets, rough stormy seas and eerie sea mists. There has also been fun, songs and music.

  

One of the many groups of dolphins we have encountered on our journey. These are bottlenose dolphins.

These are pilot whales lazing at the surface. They are toothed whales, mainly black with a large rounded head. This included the mellon which helps them to echo-locate. That is using sound to find your way around and to locate food. The males are largest, they can be over 6 metres long! They also have much bigger dorsal fins that dolphins.

Click link for a short video of the Atlantic, Spain and Portugal

From Portugal to the End of the World

Hi all

We have now reached Spain and a chance for me to give you a quick update.

A chance for me to share highlights of the leg of our journey from Portugal to Finnisterre in Spain.

The weather conditions have been quite varied so far. We have had some amazing sunsets and sunrises but in our recent stretch we were swallowed up by a huge bank of sea mist. It was very eerie. I have been in fog on land and even up in the mountains of the Canary Islands of Tenerife.

Somehow this eerie feeling is even worst when you are at sea. The feeling that almost anything could be just beyond out view in the swirling mist.

There are many dangers for a small vessel in the fog. A small ship could run aground on rocks or other half hidden objects. Which is why we are traveling safely away from land. There is  an even bigger danger of collision with another vessel. So every now and then one of the crew would sound the foghorn to alert any other sea users as to where we were.

The first two times Captain Casparo sounded the horn it made me jump as the only other sound we could hear was gentle splashing of the water as the Moondancer cut through the waves. 

Sea mist is like being in a cloud as the mist is also made up of tiny water droplets. Sea mist forms when mild air travels over the colder seawater. This causes the moisture in the air to condense into water droplets. Not so scary once you know the science. And as long as you have a great captain and crew to get you safely through.

Eventually out of the mist we see land

We have reached the safe haven of Finisterre, also enshrouded in the sea mist. 

In Ancient Roman times it was believed to be the end of the known world, which was easy to believe when we came up to Finisterre out of the fog.

As you know I have a great interest in maritime history and I was very interested to learn that  This was where the Phoenicians (an ancient trading civilization form the Mediterranean Sea) sailed from here to trade with Bronze Age Britain. Wow we must have traveled a similar route.

Ed the Bear Embarks on the Moondancer

Hi all

Well the day is finally here and I have just arrived at Newhaven Harbour to embark on the 32 foot sailing yacht the Moondancer. I had previously met Ed Wade-Martins at the EYE Eco Summit but I have not meet any of the rest of the crew.

Ed greets me at the gate and we make our way along a series of gang planks and floating walk ways and eventually reach the Moondancer. She is a beautiful vessel.

Most of the vessels I have traveled on have been hi-tech vessels built for research and I have only been on board a day at a time. Including the R/V Fulmar, a research vessel you might have seen on the BBC TV programme Big Blue Live. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02v036z

This is me on the R/V Fulmar back in March 2010

This trip is going to be a very different experience, but I hope this will also be a chance to experience (and feel) the amazing power and beauty of the ocean.

Being a small bear the vessel looks really big to me and one of the crew help me on board. Things are very manic as you would expect with the final preparations underway. One of the crew have just returned with food for the journey and it is being checked and packed away.

Someone gives me a hot cup of tea and honey and I find a space to keep out of everybody's way. Across the water behind Moondance is a huge ferry which to me looks as big as one of the icebergs I saw in Antarctica.

There are many other vessels of different sizes moored up in the marina.

I leave Ed (the human) to help sort out solar panels which are to be fitted to the roof of the cabin.

Everyone is very busy but there is also a feeling of excitement in the air.

Bye for now

Ed the Bear