Plastic bags dominate Greek sailing waters
by Michael Blackburn on 29 Jun 2004
Since my last update I’ve been home and have now returned to Europe, in fact to Athens, the Construction Zone of the Olympics.
I’ve been training in Athens for a week now, enjoying the 30 degree days and getting the vibe of the Olympic city.
In the area of town we commute around and hang out, namely the seaside suburbs around Glyfada, a lot of work has gone on since we were here last year, including the near completion of a light rail system.
The Olympic venues in this area (basketball, handball, fencing, baseball, hockey, softball, sailing and slalom canoe) also look ready to go. However, ongoing road works make things look incomplete and messy.
The water of the Saronikos Gulf, adjacent to Athens, is surprisingly clean and clear. It rarely rains at this time of year so that probably stops a lot of garbage that we can see in the streets ending up down the storm water drains.
However, this year there seems to be a large number of plastic bags in the water. So I started picking them up. I’ve retrieved 17 so far. Not a huge contribution to any muted Clean up Athens Day, I know, but it’s a lot considering I didn’t need to deviate from our training races at all to gather these.
While the current will probably bring a new set of plastic bags onto the race course by the time of the Olympics, I’m sure it is good luck to clean up a little. It would certainly be a shame if a bag should wrap around someone’s rudder and affect the results.
I have another ten days of training here before the Greek Nationals, 9-12 July, which are roughly on the Olympic courses. We expect more of the same great wind conditions – a light to moderate sea breeze or a tricky offshore wind.
More from here later,
Michael
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/13902