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SAIL AID FOR HAITI OceansWatch Members are leading a flotilla of sailboats from the US and Caribbean filled with food, water and medical supplies directly to the people of Haiti. Please Donate to supprt this effort to deliver aid directly to the people in need on islands and in small coastal villages far away and cut off from the main distribution centers in Port au Prince. DONATE HERE TO SAIL AID FOR HAITI


Haiti Destruction

Injured Boy

Schooner Wolf

Tranquility

OceansWatch members deliver marine conservation, educational resources, volunteers, humanitarian aid and sustainability projects to islands and coastal communities in developing countries on sailboats.

Working with yacht owners, sailors, divers, students, teachers, volunteers, doctors, nurses, ecologists and scientists, we undertake projects that help islands and coastal communities protect their marine environment, develop sustainable, healthy living standards and support local schools. Join us to help with projects such as conducting Reef Check surveys, setting up and monitoring Marine Protected Areas, installing yacht moorings to protect coral reefs, marine mammal surveying, and humanitarian projects such as setting up sister schools, delivering school supplies, providing medical aid and installing drinking water, sanitation and sustainable clean energy systems.

The emphasis of OceansWatch North America (OWNA) will be on projects in the Caribbean, Central and South America.  Join us on our boats, your boat and other member's yachts that  are used as project lead vessels. We have ongoing projects in Belize, Haiti, oTnga, Vanuatu, Soloman Islands and Papua New Guinea in partnership with other organizations. In 2010 OWNA is initiating projects in support of aid to schools and children in Haiti and Dominican Republic, with additional projects underway or planned for Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. To get involved or participate in one of our projects, click here to JOIN, DONATE or VOLUNTEER.

Click HERE to watch the OceansWatch Video on You Tube.

Click HERE to visit the new OWNA Blog Site.

 
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Local kids on Maewo Island, Vanuatu get ready for their first ReefCheck training experience

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Picture is of Magic Roundabout anchored in Kokopo with Rabaul's active volcano in the background.

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20kg water + the washing.

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Canoe builder of Garove.

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Drying coral for use with beetlenut.

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Flat calm Bismark Sea, PNG.

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Garove visitors.

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Glasses PNG.

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Taking the visitors back.

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Swamped with visitors as usual.

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Latest North America News

Haiti Earthquake Relief and Belize projects - please lend a hand, donate or get involved ...
January 20, 2010

Everyone has heard what has happened in Haiti, now it is time we do something to help out. OceansWatch is helping to coordinate a fleet of sailing vessels to take food, medical aid, relief supplies and support to Haiti. As of today there are more than 10 boats in and around the Florida Keys and Caribbean preparing to depart in February bound for Haiti. They will take as many supplies and materials as they can carry and we can get to them before they depart.

Devastation in HaitiMany Haitians need help and aid

OceansWatch is working to help coordinate members, boats, donations, materials, supplies and crew preparing to shove off and deliver aid and lend a hand.

One boat is the 74’ Schooner “Wolf”, http://www.schoonerwolf.com/ an experienced veteran at providing hurricane relief based in Key West.

Schooner Wolf

Also OceansWatch member vessel s/v “Tranquility” is gathering aid supplies and donations to purchase more to deliver to Haiti in the next few weeks.

s/v Tranquility

Please help in any way you can. Much is needed. 100% of all donations to OceansWatch for Haiti relief will be used directly for purchasing supplies to be delivered and donated in Haiti. OceansWatch North America is an all volunteer 501(c)3 non-profit with no overhead, salaries, marketing or administrative expenses, so 100% of all donations will go directly to aid with none used up in costs, fees or any other non-aid expense.

Please donate by going to the Donate Now page on our website and use the Paypal link to donate from your Paypal account or by credit card. Cash and check donations can be mailed to Haiti Relief, OceansWatch North America, P. O. Box 616, Norwalk, CT 06856 USA. Please make any checks payable to OceansWatch and put Haiti Relief on the Expense/For line.

If you have supplies of goods, food, shelter, medicines, tools, tarps, water containers, shipping containers, any items needed, that you would like to send to OceansWatch for us to get to Haiti, email us and we will send you the delivery address so we can get them to one of the boats heading that way.

If you have a boat in Florida or the Caribbean or would like to join the crew on one of the boats, please email usa-info@oceanswatch.org with your experience and skills offer and availability and we will try to hook you up to join the fleet or with a berth on one of the boats heading to Haiti.

And also, please take a moment to check out the new OceansWatch North America Blog site at http://blogs.oceanswatch.org/north-america where we are posting every day about activities from our team in Belize. OWNA Director Sequoia Sun and OW Member Conservation Biologist Sara Aubery, along with OW Members Daniel Thee, Jim Gregory and the Leslie family, are working with many Belizean organizations every day to set up conservation and educational projects that you and other OceansWatch members and volunteers can join in to help preserve and maintain the Meso American Reef, Belize Marine Reserves, World Heritage Sites, Cayes and marine habitat in Belize which is among both the richest and most threatened in the world.

We are setting up partnerships with people and organizations all over Belize for OW and our members to join in and participate in multiple projects: Planting Mangroves, taking school children on field trips out to the Cayes and Marine Reserves, teaching young people to swim, snorkel and scuba dive, making and installing demarcation buoys for the boundaries of the Marine Reserves, installing and maintaining yacht moorings, cultivating coral polyps, monitoring fish and reef health and conditions, and many more opportunities await any and all members who would like to come to Belize to get involved in helping to preserve the reefs, Cayes and waters.

Please email to usa-info@oceanswatch.org if you might like to join in on our next trip here in April or May and please visit the Blog site frequently and leave any comments for us to read.

We will be posting more info on the blog site and web site every day or two to keep current with projects, plans and developments so stay tuned and track what is going on if you care and want to help.

Wishing you fari winds from Placencia, Belize,

Sequoia Sun, OceansWatch North America

OceansWatch members in Belize
January 9, 2010

OWNA Director Sequoia Sun is in Belize for meetings with other OW members to see what might be done to help preserve the beautiful coasltine and the second largest barrier reef system in the world. Read all about it on the new OWNA Blog at http://blogs.oceanswatch.org/north-america/

OceansWatch North America 2010 project planning meetings in Belize, January 12-17
December 27, 2009

All OceansWatch members are invited to participate in our 2010 project planning sessions to be held in Placencia, Belize from January 12-17 2010.

Complimentary lodging will be provided on Tarpon Caye (a 30 minute boat ride 15 miles East of Placencia) courtesy of Tarpon Caye Lodge owner and OceansWatch member Daniel Thee. We have 4 confirmed OW members (plus crew, spouses etc.) who will be in Placentia during this time, and we have room for 4-6 additional members. If you might be interested and available, please join us. This will be an opportunity to meet other OW members and to participate in the planning and organizational process for future OceansWatch projects and plans for 2010 and beyond. Here are links to info on Placencia and Tarpon Caye: http://www.placencia.com/ http://www.tarponcayelodge.com/belize-fishing.html If you are interested and might be able to attend, please email sequoia@oceanswatch.org