My name is Ivan Macfadyen and I am a seasoned sailor with many voyages in the World’s oceans. My last Pacific crossing has raised an ominous alarm- I’m used to seeing turtles, dolphins, sharks and big flurries of feeding birds. But this time, for 3,000 nautical miles there was nothing alive to be seen. This once vibrant expanse of sea was hauntingly quiet, and covered with trash.
Ivan Macfadyen
Experts are calling it the silent collapse.
Although very few of us see it, we are causing it — overfishing, climate change, acidification, and pollution are devastating our oceans and wiping out entire species. It’s not just the annihilation of millennia of wonder and beauty, it impacts our climate and all life on Earth.
But we have a fleeting window still to act and this could be the year to turn the tide — the UN is considering an initiative to stop dumping and pillaging in the high seas, and announced back in 2015 that they will help create the largest single marine reserve ever in one of the most pristine areas on earth!
Lack of political will is the only real obstacle to getting more of these agreements moving.
My apocalyptic sailing voyage is a clarion call to action. Let’s get started on making everyone aware of the situation right away.
Right now, fishing boats are scraping the ocean floor clean, and over 80% of sea pollution is coming from fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics pouring off shore land. The reports are dire: in less than 40 years, our oceans could be completely fished-out.
In 100 years, all coral reefs in all the oceans might be dead.
But just as wilderness parks work to rehabilitate life on land, the same happens in the ocean. If our governments create big enough marine reserves and enforce protection laws, the ocean can regenerate.
Famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau said: “people protect what they love.” Let’s inspire millions more people to fall in the love with the ocean and defend its treasures.
We are in a precarious moment when there are still fewer marine mammal extinctions than there are on land, and when ocean ecosystems have shrunk less than those on land. We have not yet passed the tipping point for our oceans, but we will if we don’t act soon and at a scale that rivals the enormity of the problem. There is no other community in the world that can do that like we can. For The Silo, Ivan Macfadyen.
Ever wished the MarineVerse Cup felt just a bit more like the real thing?
What is MarineVerse?
MarineVerse mission is to inspire, train and connect sailors, and share the feeling of this amazing sport with a wide global audience all via the virtual reality wonder of the Oculus Quest 2 (& the newer Quest 3) headset and hand controllers.
Through our VR sailing projects we bring entertainment and education together through virtual reality (VR). We create experiences to enable more people to sail through the creation of games, training experiences and more.
We’ve been busy over the last few weeks, rolling out some cool updates to the MarineVerse Cup simulation.
One of the first new features you can dive into is “visual waves.”
Check out what people from our Discord chat said after giving it a try:
“Waves are awesome!”
“Wave motion is great! doesn’t make me feel sick 🙂 it’s kind of calming, and it feels a little more like I’m in a real boat”“Strange to say I found it great in free sailing but when I raced with it I felt a bit sweaty.”
“I love the wave action. Adds realism.”
Want to try it out? Just go to the Main Menu, hit Settings -> Boat -> Enable Waves Motion. You can find more details here:
After you’ve had a chance to test it out, I’d really like to hear your thoughts. Did you enjoy it? Please leave your comments below at the end of my article.
—
PS – By popular demand, you can now adjust the wind speed in Free Sail mode, giving you control over your sailing conditions like never before:
For the Silo, Greg Dziemidowicz Director & Lead Developer @ MarineVerse – Virtual Reality Sailing
We work our asses off to buy stuff that we can’t enjoy because we are working our asses off to pay for the stuff we buy while diligently saving (or attempting to save) for our retirement which we keep pushing back because we keep working our asses off to buy yet more stuff to enjoy that we have to work our asses off to pay for, and there is always something else that we want or need or think we need (but really want) that we have to work our asses off to pay for and…
A generation ago somebody coined the phrase “rat race” to describe this phenomenon of modern consumerism, and the term stuck.
It’s wrong.
It ain’t a race.
You can win a race.
Modern consumerist life is a strictly no-win proposition, friends…
… and none of us gets out of here alive.
I began to think about this a few years ago, when I received a matched set of stainless steel rechargeable electric salt and pepper grinders as a gift.
Think about that: Electric salt and pepper grinders.
I am pretty sure this is an answer to a question nobody asked.
This gift made me ponder, and I came to some conclusions:
I must be one of those “hard-to-shop-for” people.
I’d rather have an LCBO gift card.
Grinding pepper over your mashed potatoes is apparently much more strenuous than I ever thought., that somebody decided the world needed this.
A gadget that doesn’t really save any appreciable time or effort and provides little entertainment required somebody to work to earn the money to purchase it.
Enough is enough.
Is mortal- consumerism (yep we just coined that CP) keeping society asleep?
At the time, I was working a gig that required me to work 12 hour days 6-7 days a week, put in 40 000 km a year behind the wheel of a car traveling to meet prospects, 75% of whom either don’t want or can’t afford what I am selling, so that I can afford the next toy/vacation/orthodontist payment/thing with the 50% of my income that the tax man has allowed me to keep. I was alienated from, and alienating, my kids, my wife, because of my absence from home life, and I became an overcompensating asshole for the same reason which increased the tension and…
…any of you out there who have climbed out of the wreckage of a crashed marriage know exactly where I’m coming from.
Actually, scratch that vacation part. At the time I hadn’t taken more than a long weekend off in over a decade.
And I thought I was successful.
I began to question where I was going, what I was doing, and why.
Frankly, I figured enjoying retirement is a myth.
That whole “Freedom 55” thing? Bullshit.
First, you gotta get there. With my diet, hours, stress level and number of miles driven every year, the odds were good I wasn’t gonna make it.
Second, you gotta pay for it. You need to keep squirreling away the cash, tending your investments, watching your nest egg grow, deferring and sacrificing today for the dream of a better tomorrow…
….As long as the market doesn’t tank, your health holds up, property values don’t plummet, or your kids don’t move back in, with their kids.
Money may not buy happiness, but always feeling like you don’t have enough will make you bitchy as hell.
I was sitting in the cockpit of our old, small, paid-for sailboat one morning, enjoying a cup of coffee when it hit me:
As a society we are conditioned to approach life like a big twin-engine cabin cruiser- heavy consumption, lots of noise, lots of flash, throwing a big wake. Unless you are getting noticed, you’re not succeeding.
I finally figured out that there is a lot to be said for living a NO wake lifestyle.
But how?
With a bit of soul searching we realized we had to quit confusing our wants with our needs.
My wife and I realized that we were perfectly content spending time on our old, small, paid-off boat in our low-cost slip on our no-frills dock. We didn’t need a bigger boat on a fancier dock.
And we didn’t need new cars. As long as the old cars keep running , it is always gonna be cheaper to fix ‘em than replace ‘em. If I need a new whip to impress you, you’re likely not worth impressing.
Besides, there’s something real liberating about parking wherever you damn well please, because dings and scratches just don’t matter.
And we didn’t need a $20 000 kitchen reno or a $10 000 bathroom makeover. Or a bigger house. Or a bigger garage.
Or a bigger mortgage.
For a longer time.
With fatter payments.
We didn’t need to stand in line to be grilled by a soul-patch sporting “barista” first thing in the morning just to get a simple cup of coffee which costs as much as a Happy Meal, when we had a perfectly good underused coffee maker on the kitchen counter.
We needed to live life NOW, on OUR terms.
A funny thing happened. By deciding what we could live without, we could now afford to live.
With less financial stress, I didn’t need to be on the road, living out of a car and fueling up on fast food three meals a day. My wife and I discovered that cooking dinner together was a great way to re-connect at the end of the workday. Chopping, sautéing, stirring with a glass of wine while recapping our respective days beats the hell out of eating a Whopper an hour from home.
We didn’t have to save dining at restaurants with tablecloths for a special occasion to fit the budget.
We could afford to drink the bottles of wine we could only read about before.
We could take vacation days without figuring out what we had to sacrifice to make up for the lost wages.
Hell, we could take whole damn vacations, for that matter!
The sunsets look just as pretty from a small, paid-off sailboat as it does from the bridge of a six-figure cabin cruiser.
The rum goes down just as well.
And I can enjoy it instead of working to afford it.
Canadians will be able to visit more clean and eco-friendly beaches and marinas across the country this summer. A record 27 beaches and eight marinas in Canada have earned the Blue Flag—a world-renowned eco-certification for beaches and marinas.
The latest beaches to fly the flag are Moonlight Beach in Sudbury, Ont. and Outlet Beach at Ontario’s Sandbanks Provincial Park. Colchester Harbour Marina in the Town of Essex, Ont. will also raise the Blue Flag for the first time this year.
The winners of our eco-journalism competition are …
We’re pleased to announce the winners of the 2017 YRE Canada Eco-Journalism Competition for Youth. First place winners will have their work published by Alternatives Journal and will go on to compete in theinternational Young Reporters for the Environment Competition, hosted by the Foundation for Environmental Education.
For too long, harmful chemicals like triclosan and BPA have been allowed in consumer products despite growing scientific evidence on their health and environmental effects. That’s why the Canadian Environmental Protection Act needs to be updated and strengthened to speed up the process for phasing out and banning toxic chemicals. Take action!
AT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE WE CHALLENGE AND INSPIRE
CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT, BUSINESS AND PEOPLE TO ENSURE A
GREENER, HEALTHIER AND MORE PROSPEROUS LIFE FOR ALL.
“The Countess of Beverly Hills Mansions” Before Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, socialite Dorothy Taylor may have been the first Hollywood celebrity who wasn’t in the entertainment business. She was the ultimate party host and frequent 1930’s scandal rag fodder. Her lovers included Gary Cooper, Bugsy Siegel, George Raft and an Italian count.
Dorothy’s trip to celebrity fame began after she inherited $12 million in 1916, the equivalent of about $275 million today. The first thing she did with her money was divorce her British aviator husband, Claude Grahame-White, and embark on a long party in Europe’s best circles. In 1923, she married Italian Count Carlo Dentice di Frasso, many years her senior. On the outskirts of Rome, the new countess acquired and restored one of Europe’s most famous homes, Villa Madama, that had been designed in the sixteenth century by Raphael. It was later used by Benito Mussolini during World War II for National Fascist Party functions.
While residing in the villa, actor Gary Cooper was doing a movie in Rome and became quite ill. Dorothy took him in and during his recuperation began an intense affair with him under her husband’s nose. Since she and the count were at that point leading separate lives, Dorothy went on with the affair and moved to Hollywood where she purchased a mansion in Beverly Hills. Making friends of some of Hollywood’s most important stars through her Cooper connections, Dorothy called in the best decorators and landscapers and created a luxurious estate that was classic Art Deco filmdom glamour. Dorothy and Cooper eventually went their own ways but remained distant friends. She was always known as the woman who taught Gary Cooper how to dress, making him the most elegant man in Hollywood.
Through her new Hollywood friends, Dorothy eventually rented her mansion to Marlene Dietrich and headed off to search for sunken treasure on the studio-owned schooner, Metha Nelson; Captain Bligh’s ship in the 1935 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty.” Also on the ship was American gangster Bugsy Siegel. Although the trip turned into a disaster when the schooner was tossed violently by 70 mile-per-hour gale winds that split the main mast and destroyed the sails, it was the start of a new affair with Bugsy. She always rejected gossip of her association with Bugsy, instead referring to him as Benjamin to her friends.
In 1947, Dorothy sold the Beverly Hills house to MGM pianist Jose Iturbi, who lived there until he died in 1980. In 1954, Dorothy died of heart failure in a train compartment while she was traveling with George Raft from Las Vegas to Los Angeles after attending one of Dietrich’s performances.
Hand painted murals & mirrored verre églomisé panels.
Once again for sale, the beautifully preserved Spanish Revival estate hasn’t changed much since its heyday in the 1930s when it was featured in “House and Garden.” At approximately 8,000 square feet, it has four bedrooms and five baths on 1.12 acres. The home was built for entertaining with large public rooms and although it looks like wallpaper, the walls are covered in hand-painted murals. In the dining room, the walls are mirrored verre églomisé panels that depict towering palms. There is also a two-bedroom guest house and pool nestled within the mature landscaped grounds. The asking price is USD $26.9 million. Dimitri Velis of Hilton and Hyland in Beverly Hills is the listing agent. For the Silo, Terry Walsh.
Please note, Outer Shores Expeditions is in no way affiliated with the ‘Haida Gwaii: On The Edge of the World’ nor is it portrayed in the documentary. What Hot Docs’ best Canadian Feature Documentary explores on film, Outer Shores Expeditions explores by classic wooden schooner.
Documentary film fans were given an intimate look into life on the Haida Gwaii archipelago during Toronto’s Hot Docs film festival in 2015, and now travelers can experience one of the planet’s most spectacular places for themselves with Outer Shores Expeditions, British Columbia’s leading sailing operator.
‘Haida Gwaii: On The Edge of the World’ was awarded top honours at the prestigious documentary film festival. Director Charles Wilkinson’s film about First Nations rights activists, ecologists and locals took home the Best Canadian Feature Documentary award, receiving praise from the Hot Docs festival jury for its “stunning cinematography.”
Toronto audiences were captivated by the film’s journey, as the documentary sold out all four of its screenings throughout the festival. It’s a journey travellers can also experience for themselves aboard Outer Shores Expeditions’ classic 70-foot wooden schooner Passing Cloud this summer.
Captain Markel
To those of us familiar with Haida Gwaii, its people, and its history, it really doesn’t come as a surprise that a film placing this spectacular setting at its centre would enrapture audiences,” says Russell Markel, Captain and Founder, Outer Shores Expeditions. “You look around you and you have to believe that a talented filmmaker would find a perfect story of place and people in Haida Gwaii.”
‘Islands of the People’
Outer Shores guests will be able to experience first hand the history and pre-history of the ‘Islands of the People.’ The expedition is dedicated to exploring and learning about the ecosystems, wildlife and cultural heritage also featured in ‘Haida Gwaii: On The Edge of the World.’ Excursions include Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, Haida Heritage Site, National Marine Conservation Area, ancient Haida villages, old-growth forests, estuaries, white-sand beaches and rocky shores. Expedition Schedule
Outer Shores offers five “”Haida Gwaii Archipelago: Islands at the Edge expedition sailings from June to August.
For more information on Outer Shores Expeditions, visit www.outershores.ca or call 1-855-714-7233 Please mention The Silo when contacting.
About Passing Cloud
Passing Cloud is a classic, 70′ schooner designed by William James Roué, famous for designing the legendary schooner Bluenose. Built in Victoria, BC, in 1974, Passing Cloud has a rich history on the BC Coast, renowned for her elegant design, exceptional accommodation, robust construction, and remarkable sailing abilities. Designed to sail around the world, Passing Cloud is an ideal vessel for small-group natural and cultural history expeditions throughout the BC Coast. Among her many features are Passing Cloud’s classic West coast wheelhouse, four private staterooms and gorgeous main salon.
About Outer Shores Expeditions
Outer Shores offers multi-day wildlife and cultural expeditions that are once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Guided by a crew of professional mariners and expert naturalists, Outer Shores Expeditions small groups of 6 to 8 guests explore, experience, and learn about the stunning wildlife and ancient cultures of coastal British Columbia while living and traveling aboard the 70′ classic wooden schooner Passing Cloud. President and Captain Russell Markel holds a PhD in marine biology and is dedicated to hosting guests from around the world while fostering stewardship and supporting conservation-based research in the areas where Outer Shores travels.
James W. Graham’s new book — Victura: the Kennedys, a Sailboat, and the Sea –offers new insights into the dynamics and magic of the Kennedy family and their intense relationship with sailing and the sea. Many families sail together, but the foot sloop purchased in 1932 shortly s move to Hyannis Port, stands apart.
Throughout their brief lives, Joe Jr., Jack and Bobby spent long hours on Victura, competing in countless races every summer. They were joined by their younger brother Teddy when he grew old enough. Joe Jr. and Jack ranked among the best collegiate sailors in New England, driven by their father Joseph P. Kennedy who insisted that winning was essential. Among their sisters, Eunice emerged as a gifted sailor and fierce competitor, the equal of any of her brothers.
Tracking their story beginning in 1932 when Jack was 15 and continuing today in an identical family boat of the same name, readers will learn to admire the Kennedys for what Victura taught them about life, family, leadership, determination, winning, and dealing with tragedies.
Celebrating the sailboat’s deep influence on Jack, Bobby, Ethel, Ted, Eunice and other Kennedys, it offers a new way of experiencing their intimate sibling relationships and growth as an extended family. Kennedys credit young Jack’s sailing with helping him survive the sinking of his PT boat in the Pacific. Life magazine photos of Jack and Jackie on Victura’s bow helped define the winning Kennedy brand in the 1950s. Jack doodled sketches of Victura in Oval Office meetings, and his love of seafaring probably played a role in his decision to put a man on the moon, an enterprise he referred to as “space-faring.”
The notion of “Space-fairing” developed by JFK came about as a result of his sailing experiences and love for adventure. CP
When the Kennedy siblings married, sailing connected them with their children and nephews and nieces. Sailing was an everyday event, even in dangerous weather and in the darkness of night. The sport influenced how they celebrated and observed happy events, managed grief, and grew close to one another.
Ted loved Victura as much as any of them. In the years following the untimely deaths of his three older brothers, Ted sailed with his children and the children of his lost brothers as crew. He also sailed past the shoals of personal shortcomings and an ebbing career to become known as the “Lion of the Senate,” helping fulfill patriarch Joe Sr.’s desire that his children pursue careers in public service rather than in business.
Rich with colorful and intimate anecdotes, the book features author interviews with family members, including children of Ted, Robert and Ethel Kennedy. Victura is a story of redemption, strong family bonds, character, sport, tragedy, the power of metaphor and the influence of a little boat on the lives of great men and women.
In Victura, James W. Graham charts the progress of America’s signature twentieth century family dynasty, in a narrative both stunningly original and deeply gripping. This true tale of one small sailboat is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the impressive story of the Kennedys. For the Silo, Jim and Lynda O’Connor, and Paul Krupin.
Victura The Kennedys, a Sailboat, and the Sea James W. Graham
ForeEdge, an imprint of the University Press of New England
$29.95 cloth 978-1-61168-411-7
$22.99 ebook 978-1-61168-599-2
Official publication date: April 1, 2014
280 pp., 28 illus., 6 x 9″
James W. Graham, a communications and public affairs professional for a major-brand retailer, was a senior adviser to former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar and the Illinois House of Representatives. He races and cruises his sailboat Venturous out of Wilmette Harbor, north of Chicago.
What People Are Saying
“This wonderfully-written book takes a well-worn subject — the Kennedys — and gives it as fresh a gust as the sailors on the sturdy, little Victura themselves must have felt a thousand times off the Nantucket shore. In going to sea on board the Victura, Joe, Jack, Bobby and Teddy Kennedy entered their metaphor of quest, braced themselves for the unknown, and left their country, in the end, with an imperishable poignancy in its heart.”
— Richard D. Mahoney, author, Sons and Brothers
“The Kennedys saw the world and nature as a magical place, full of mystery and adventure. They especially enjoyed challenges and the freedom of activities like sailing, skiing, river running, climbing and just being outside. Two thirds of the surface of planet earth is liquid: the sea is vital to life — a huge source of both pleasure and fear — and a great teacher. Victura, a small wooden sailboat, became
the center of adventure, companionship and love for this remarkable family. Author Graham knows the sea, sailing and the Kennedys. Sail on Victura, to new horizons.”
— Jim Whittaker, first American to summit Mt. Everest, former CEO of REI, author of Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond.
“Victura is more than Graham recounting the sailing experiences of the Kennedys. In this well-researched but warmly written book, Graham sometimes goes several pages describing an election, or a Kennedy family intrigue, and then gracefully brings the
story back to the sea, showing how, in best and worst of times, the family pulled together around sailing.”
— Rich Evans, book review, SAILING magazine, March 2014
Dorothy’s trip to celebrity fame began after she inherited $12 million in 1916, the equivalent of about $275 million today. The first thing she did with her money was divorce her British aviator husband, Claude Grahame-White, and embark on a long party in Europe’s best circles. In 1923, she married Italian Count Carlo Dentice di Frasso, many years her senior. On the outskirts of Rome, the new countess acquired and restored one of Europe’s most famous homes, 
