The Mer And The Man | SAILING FOR OUR FUTURE

SAILING FOR OUR FUTURE - JUSTICE FOR THE SEA

The day has come where we set our sails for the horizon, leaving behind friends and family, and opening our opportunities and minds to new challenges, new friends and new memories we will create and cherish together. Our dream of creating a marine conservation sailing organisation, an adventure blog with passion and purpose, a core message of simplicity and protection, is no longer a dream but now a reality. We have our boat and we set sail in 1 MONTHS TIME.  

Jump on board with this project, we would love to have you join the crew! Our mission is to help unite youth, to reconnect to their voices, their power and their passions to help inspire good for ALL beings on Earth. 

For there is a whole world of wonder waiting for you to experience out there, you just got to dive a little deeper...

OUR BOAT



What we plan to do with this boat is what sets us aside from the everyday boat goer...

We are creating a marine conservation sailing vessel, powered by the wind, and the sun. Our dream is to live off grid on the ocean, whilst fighting for its protection. Our goal for this boat is to convert a standardised fossil fuel boat engine with an electric motor, powered by the sun, through solar. Providing us with propulsion that is not causing harm to the Earth. Taking a step away from conventional means of transport, as we leave unsustainable practices in the past. Setting us aside from other boat goers, as we utilise the energy from the wind and the sun to move our vessel. Showing the world the new generation of transport. It’s time we step away from outdated practices and rise to the challenge of pushing societal boundaries and dare to be different. 

We invite you to now, to support the mission of greater world wide ocean sanctuary and protection. The vessel that we have purchased needs quite a bit of restoration work, and while we have the funds to fix the boat and get her seaworthy, we don't quite have enough money for solar panels, batteries, an auto pilot ($2000), and an electric engine. The funds from this campaign will be directly invested back into the vessel to make her off the grid and eco friendly :) (Something that we value dearly). Owning a boat comes with great expenses and this fund will allows us to be on the ocean for longer, helping to raise awareness about it's health deterioration and what us as individuals can do to help!  

Our goal is to help shed light and encourage action on  current global environmental issues the ocean is facing. These environmental issues will be the core of our conservation content within our adventure blog 'The Mer And The Man'. Our campaigns include; Plastic Pollution, The Fossil Fuel Industry, The Health Of The Great Barrier Reef, Ending The War On Sharks, and Education and Awareness.

Here is a brief overview of just some of our direct actions we will be undergoing whilst living out on the ocean. 

1. The Fossil Fuel Industry

- Through having a fossil fuel free boat we combat the demand for fossil fuels and encourage renewable energy.
- Creating and sharing content about important marine zones that are threatened by the fossil fuel industry, such as the Great Barrier Reef and The Great Australian Bight.
- Providing active links to viewers of political parties, laws and leeways on fossil fuels and helping others to write strong submissions against the industry in order to protect our oceans.
- Documenting and exposing coal transportation within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. 

2. The Plastic Pollution Problem

-  Initiating beach clean ups as we sail along the East Coast of Australia.
- Guiding others to live as plastic free as possible, whilst recording and documenting our means of doing so. 
- Creating powerful content on plastic pollution and sharing it with viewers.
-Working with organisations that provide legitimate solutions to this huge problem.
- Removing marine debris floating in the ocean and collecting data on everything we find. 
- Removing ghost nets. 

3. Ending The War On Sharks

- We will do regular shark net and drumline checks. (All that we can due to new laws in place stating that you can't be within 10m of a net or drumline...)
- Documenting and exposing the truth and misconceptions around shark nets and drum lines.
- Putting pressure on leading state governments to enforce non-lethal shark mitigation strategies and sharing with viewers on how to do so.
-  Promoting cruelty free alternatives such as shark watch, shark deterrents, individual responsibility, signage, drones etc. 
- Sharing with viewers information as to other potential reasons why bites can occur e.g. overfishing, river pollution, weather, time of hour, individual behaviour.
- Education on the importance of sharks within marine ecosystems and the threat of global extinction they are facing.
-  We will be investigating and gathering research on the exploitation of sharks especially within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, talking with leading scientists and sharing their knowledge on the issue.
- Educating and making people aware of shark finning worldwide and especially in Australian waters.

4. The Health Of The Great Barrier Reef

- Caring for the climate.
- Partnering with Crown of Thorns Starfish removal programs and volunteering our time and our boat as a means to reduce numbers of COTS and help save the reef. This is important because COTS are responsible for a large percentage of coral destruction on the reef. 
- Campaigning against the industrialised fishing industry within the reef. Exposing the truth about gill nets and loose laws and legislation QLD has on fishing practices within the GBR.
- Fighting for increased marine sanctuaries within the reef, as new laws are passing reducing the marine parks when instead they needs to be extended. 

 5. Education And Awareness

- We believe that education and awareness comes at the forefront of change and is one of the most important aspects of conservation. 
- This campaign will be primarily solution and action based.
- Eventually we aim to be doing school education talks about topics of our campaigns and the importance of worldwide healthy oceans. 
- We want to help show people what they can do to help conserve the ocean, through inspiring, empowering, and motivating individuals with content from our other 4 campaigns. 


As a human race we have become ever so dependent and reliant on things being easily accessible to us, and through the system of money and the time we put into it, we expect convenience in exchange. Which is nice for us in the moment, but in the long term, it causes a tremendous amount of damage to the environment in which we rely upon for our very own survival. 


Emily Horton -  21yrs old



"At a young age, I fell in love with the ocean. It will forever hold a place in my heart. When I learnt about the destruction of the ocean and reflected on the daily choices that I made and how I was contributing to its suffering. I knew it was my duty to change my habits into choices and movements that will instead help protect it. I started freediving when I was 16 years old and my life has been forever different. Opening my eyes underwater opened my mind to life beneath the surface. My soul has forever changed and I aim to inspire other people to do the same, because in order to protect something, it must come from a place of appreciation and love. Not everybody can experience the ocean like I can. So I hope that I can help others foster a greater love for the ocean and the animals in it, through cinematic imagery, story telling and poems about the experiences I am gifted from the sea. Journey with me."

Sage Jefferys -  20 yrs old

"My name is Sage and some would say that I have not lived a normal life, I would agree to that. Growing up deep in the forest and living on the ocean for the past 9 years, has taught me that the sea is sacred and deserves love and respect. All my life up until now, I felt like there was something missing. There was this deep feeling my chest that told me I was meant to be doing something greater. That something is standing up for the Earth. The ocean has given me everything that a man can dream of. Its time I give something back. As my days are spent surfing, sailing, skating, singing, creating music and adventuring. Why don't I incorporate marine conservation into all of my passions. I am somebody who loves a challenge and fighting for the Earth in this global crisis is the largest challenge of all, bring it on..." 


So jump on board with this project, we would love to have you join the crew! Our mission is to help unite youth, to reconnect to their voices, their power and their passions to help inspire good for all beings in the world.

For there is a whole world of wonder waiting for you to experience out there, you just have to dive a little deeper! 


We invite you to join our platforms -  IG, Youtube, Patreon, FB - all under ‘The Mer And The Man'.