The boating season has begun with EYC regattas and cruises well underway. The Environmental Committee is now working closely with other committees to help make it a “green” racing and cruising season. Committee members are also actively monitoring the local water quality and nurturing the oysters in our marina as the water warms up and the algae grows.
We will also be continuing our educational efforts with the showing of the film “My Octopus Teacher” on World Oceans Day, Thusday, June 8.
During the first week of May, the Environmental Committee was honored to work very closely with the Santa María Cup Committee to help make this major (“Grade 1”) international women’s match racing regatta a model “clean regatta” event.
Throughout the event, the organizers, club staff, and regatta participants (sailors, race committee, umpires, and spectators) all helped maintain consistent use of the “best practices” recognized by the internationally respected Sailors for the Sea Clean Regatta Program.
These included exclusion of single-use plastic in all food and drink related activities as well as on-site water bottle refills with an outdoor water station made possible through our kind friends at Annapolis Green and La Victoire Finance Company. A much-appreciated touch was the on-water delivery of water refills by member Donna Clapp in her dinghy.
Special thanks to the regatta committee co-chair Ursula Kuehn for coordinating with the Green Team on the entire effort, and to our clean regatta coordinator Jan O’Connor for organizing volunteers and writing the final report to Sailors for the Sea. Gold-or platinum-level “clean regatta” certification seems assured!
In June, the Environmental Committee will be showing the film “My Octopus Teacher” on Thursday, June 8, at 7 p.m. at EYC. This film is the story of a filmmaker who forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest.
This true heart-warming story of a meaningful bond between a man and an animal without a backbone forces us to reevaluate our perception of the intelligence of mollusks and other sea creatures. It received the 2021 Oscar Award for best documentary.
Celebrate World Oceans Day and join us for this breathtaking, introspective and moving film about one of the ocean’s most remarkable creatures!