Winter Has Come...
Three months of alternate diversion required...
The picture says it all. Moondust, just weeks ago animated and up for adventure, is now dormant and in hibernation until March. One benefit of the Chesapeake Bay is that the sailing season doesn’t end until November, and it resumes in March (and when I sailed frostbite it didn’t end at all). I think I can manage to distract myself for the chilly three months ahead. I think.
Winter Whale Watch: to help get through the dark months I’ve been collecting documentaries of interest. First up for me will be The Loneliest Whale, the story of 52 Hz, a mysterious whale who was heard but never seen. You can stream it on Hulu, or rent it on Amazon or Apple.
Orca Biker Gang Update: The boat-marauding orcas off Spain have stayed busy, and Yachting World has a good summary of what they are up to, what boaters are doing in response, and what scientists say. The bottom line is no one really knows what to do do about these orcas (though I like the idea of convoys, which follow the same logic as schooling fish), or why they are so interested in yachts (and rudders). Sometimes Nature has its mysteries. We don’t get to know everything. That’s what keeps things interesting.
Supersizing, Not Downsizing: There are reams of data on how destructive the climate lifestyles of the super-rich are when it comes to the planet. It’s paywalled (sorry), but even the Financial Times sent up a recent flare, warning that the biggest climate hogs on the planet will not escape attention—and retribution—forever:
As political leaders argue in advance of this November’s COP26 UN climate change conference, the key divides over greenhouse gas policies run between states: rich versus poor, fossil fuel exporters versus importers, and green countries — the Scandinavians, for example — versus the less green, such as Australia. But this may not last much longer. The fight to protect the planet is shifting in ways that could soon exacerbate conflicts within countries, particularly between social classes. Or, to put it bluntly, between the rich and the rest. The top 1 per cent by income of the world’s population account for about 15 per cent of emissions, according to UN data. That is more than double the share of the bottom 50 per cent. The UN’s 2020 Emissions Gap report says that limiting temperature rises to 1.5C, as envisaged by the 2015 Paris Agreement, would require the richest 1 per cent to cut their carbon footprint by 2030 “by at least a factor of 30”. Almost everything the wealthy do involves higher emissions, from living in bigger houses to running larger cars and flying more often, especially by private jet. Eating meat comes into it, as does owning a swimming pool. Not to mention a holiday home.
And superyachts, perhaps? They are basically massive vacation homes which are accessed by private jets and helicopters, and also burn thousands of gallons of fuel a day. Not to mention the huge carbon footprint of construction. The next time you hear Jeff Bezos trying to convince you he is climate-forward, remember that he is building himself the largest sailing yacht ever, at a rumored cost of $500 million, upon which he will at the same time both ponder and abuse the future of the planet.
And it’s not just Bezos. According to the industry newsletter gCaptain, superyacht orders are booming:
As the number of billionaires grows and COVID-19 has added to incentives for avoiding crowds, the multi-billion-dollar global luxury boat industry is rebounding fast after near-paralysis at the onset of the pandemic.
“2021 is significantly outperforming any of the last 12 years,” said brokers Fraser Yachts.
Sales of luxury vessels longer than 30 meters (98 ft) rose over 8% in the first nine months of 2021 from the same period of 2019 pre-pandemic, according to industry publication the Superyacht Group.
The cost of a superyacht can range from $10 million second-hand to $600 million new, industry figures show.
Over 200 new ones hit the water for the first time this year until September, up from 165 in the same period of 2019, the Superyacht Group said.
Some 330 have been ordered to be ready before 2023.
“Some have seen that their ultra-rich friends who own yachts had a nice time during the pandemic, while they had to lock themselves at home,” said Pepe Garcia, chairman of Spanish shipyards MB92, the world’s leading superyacht refit firm.
“I think this phenomenon is going to last for a few years.”
So much for any hope that the super-rich will be slashing their carbon footprints by 2030.
Seems like a backlash is both inevitable and richly (see what I did there?) deserved. What would be the superyacht equivalent of activists throwing red paint on furs?
Moment Of Zen: Click for live action..
Parting Thought: May proliferating jellyfish clog all Jeff Bezos’ superyacht intakes…
If you liked this post from Sailing Into The Anthropocene, why not subscribe here (free!), and/or hit that share button below? You can also find me on Instagram and Twitter.