Volunteer Captains for Clean Sweep

I never thought I’d know how to dry dock a Boston Whaler, but I know now. I’m also pretty good at cleaning a boat cover of the “gifts” left by the local birds. Today I spent the morning on Clean Sweep with San Diego Coastkeeper’s soon-to-be-former outreach and volunteer coordinator, who’s on her way to grad school in Costa Rica, and our new outreach and volunteer coordinator, Dylan,  AND our first-ever Volunteer Boat Captain, Kevin.

I had a lot of work piling up, but it’s always fun to do things with our volunteers and, who doesn’t want to spend a gorgeous sunny morning on San Diego Bay? We cruised over to the marina where the fishing boats dock. Once aboard, we checked out the industrial area beyond Coronado Bay Bridge and talked a little bit about the sediment removal that should happen by year-end. On our way back, we cruised by and said hello to our pals at the Harbor Police.

I feel pretty excited about the Volunteer Captain program. It’s going to be awesome to have qualified folks in the community who can get Clean Sweep out on the water so that we can do more patrolling for pollution, more tours with donors and decision-makers and make more connections with the people who are on the water for fun and as they make a living.

By the time I got back to the office, that work that I thought was piling up didn’t seem all that big a deal anymore. And I felt grateful for the amazing people who use our waterways and more connected to the ocean that we work to protect!