We left this morning from Montego Bay heading toward Panama after five days in Jamaica. It has been an intense stay with a lot of work to do, but also time to go see the beautiful tropical island, and most importantly make new friends. Our hosts at the Montego Bay Yacht Club have been extremely friendly and helpful the Jamaican way - always with a smile and a relaxed attitude: take it easy man, don´t you worry ´bout a thing.

During our stay we had the pleasure of meeting some of the boats and people of the Jimmy Cornell project Blue Planet Odyssey. They are sailing around the world to create awareness about and to help investigate the climate changes on the planet focusing on the oceans. A fleet of fourteen boats have joined the mission. Ordinary people have quit their jobs, sold their houses, cashed their savings in for the good cause of helping to protect our beautiful blue planet for the future generations to inherit, and for the sake of all living on the planet. We in the Oceans of Hope team deeply sympathise with our new friends and will follow them on their journey.

I believe we share the same values of taking care of each other and making an effort to turn good intentions into action. I think most people will recognize that if you want to make a change, it can be quite difficult and exhausting. We all live busy lives and the daily routines and chores will easily take up more time than we have at hand. On the other hand, we also know that if people work together on a common cause and we focus on the resources and possibilities activating our network, we can accomplish great things. This is what we have experienced on the Oceans of Hope and this is what we recognize in our new friends from Blue Planet Odyssey.  Safe travels to you all – see you out there on the Big Blue.

Yesterday evening the Montego Bay Yacht Club hosted a cocktail party in honour of both Blue Planet Odyssey and Oceans of Hope.

The Blue Planet Odyssey is a round the world sailing event aimed at raising awareness of the global effects of climate change and the state of the ocean, conveying the message: The Ocean – Our Future by calling at some of the most endangered places on the planet:

• San Blas Islands in the Atlantic Ocean;
• the Arctic Ocean;
• Galapagos Islands, Tuvalu and the Great Barrier Reef in the Pacific Ocean;
• the Maldive and Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean.

 Please learn more at:

http://cornellsailing.com/sail-the-odyssey/blue-planet-odyssey/