"Using his dilapidated Volkswagen camper van (named Cecil) which runs on donated chip oil from local pubs, Steve Green is on a mission to haul 166 forgotten, disintegrating fibreglass yachts out of the beautiful, secret creeks of Cornwall's Helford and Fal rivers. These boats are far more than an eyesore. They leak toxins into the water, and marine biologists have compared the thousands of javelins of fibreglass they have found embedded in the flesh of sea creatures near wrecks like these to the noxious fibres of asbestos."
"This is not just a Cornish problem. Across the UK, fibreglass boats bought in the cheap boat-building boom of the 1960s and 70s are now reaching the end of life. There is no plan for what to do with them. With no requirement to licence a boat in coastal waters here, owners can simply abandon a yacht and disappear."
"Every boat that Green (and Cecil) drag out costs Clean Ocean Sailing, the tiny organisation he runs with his wife, between 1,000 and 3,000 to dump. They will all end up in landfill. Last year Green, who has a young family, ran up 8,000 on personal credit cards when charitable funding grants didn't cover all the boats he towed to the recycling centre in Truro."
"Green says he nearly fainted when hundreds of Guardian readers flooded his crowdfunder with donations and notes of thanks after we told his story. More on Green's mission, and the generosity of readers that followed, after this week's climate reads."
Steve Green runs Clean Ocean Sailing with his wife, using a dilapidated Volkswagen camper van named Cecil that runs on donated chip oil from local pubs. He hauls 166 forgotten, disintegrating fibreglass yachts out of creeks and rivers in Cornwall, including the Helford and Fal. The boats are more than an eyesore because they leak toxins into the water. Marine biologists have compared the fibreglass fragments found embedded in sea creatures near wrecks to asbestos-like fibres. Across the UK, many fibreglass boats from the 1960s and 1970s are reaching end of life, with no plan for disposal. Owners can abandon yachts in coastal waters without licensing requirements, and each removal costs between 1,000 and 3,000 to dump, with disposal ending in landfill. Green previously used personal credit cards to cover costs when grants fell short, and crowdfunding donations followed after his story was shared.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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