14th and 15th October by Dario:
Thursday afternoon we docked at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron and went for a hike. It was fun for all to be once again in a city and to meet SY Caledonia with Juergen and Claudia again.
The next morning we had an early move and sailed to a dock of an Oceanographer. The idea was that we would be in working distance of the University. Unfortunately, his dock was too small and it was too shallow.
Back at the Squadron two TV stations came along. Alexa, from Global news, gave Dario a lift to the Dalhousie University and followed us around the rest of the day. Many thanks to marine biologist Mirjam Wirz-Held who organized the talk at the University and TV stations. She wrote as a note:
“Explore. Inspire. Act. Today I had the great pleasure to welcome Dario Schwörer from the TOPtoTOP Global Climate Expedition to Dalhousie University. During his captivating talk he let the audience share in the highlights and challenges from the past 16 years of sailing the seven seas and cycling inland to climb the highest peaks on each continent by wind and muscle power alone. The main goal of the expedition is to explore and collect commendable examples of how renewable energies can replace conventional engines so frequently used to help with everyday tasks. There is no doubt Dario and his family/crew are very passionate about their project and we were all inspired to do our fair share to protect the planet. Thank you for reminding us that change starts with each of us!”
Thank you to Alexa for the wonderful interview. Here the link to one of the TV reports.
In the evening Amanda, who is the daughter of Mike, who is a highly skilled mechanic and does some repairs on Caledonia, showed us the waterfront of Halifax. Our kids were excited about the playground in front of the maritime museum.
Amanda worked in Natuashish, Labrador a couple of years ago near where we had visited the “ghost town” of Davis Inlet. The people were relocated to Natuashish because of health concerns with the lack of indoor plumbing and running water.
On Saturday morning we went to the Seaport Farmers Market for fresh vegetables and fruit, before we gave another talk to the young sailors of the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron. After the presentation, all the kids climbed all over the boat and we had many visitors. During this playful exploration, a piece of plastic garbage fell into the water. Andri, being ever conscious of the damaging effects of plastic in our waters, jumped into the mid-October water, grabbed the plastic, and swam back to the dock where the crowds applauded his heroic bravery!
Andrea, from Dalhousie University, who is working towards her PhD in Marine Ecology, was interested in our conservation ideas and joined us on our sail down to Liverpool.
With Andrea and Amanda on board, making our crew now 10, we cleared the dock and sailed away towards the sunset with the full moon just rising over the horizon.
Our cell phone works again: +1 415 516 36 79
Please note: Our gofoundme page is now working. Please check it out: https://www.gofundme.com/2gb7d6c
Donations: http://www.toptotop.org/bank.php
Voyage link:
https://share.delorme.com/ChristinaHartmann
Best high resolution pictures:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s0aorug11707501/AAC394QkszKupn4syRj2EyMpa/best%20pics%20of%20TOPtoTOP/2016-annual-report?dl=0
