We have settled on a new plan and route after leaving our rendezvous with captain Charles Moore. We have decided to travel about 200 nm west-south-west to get to drifter F. We will still be in the core of the patch. After reaching this new location, we will move north in the direction of the subtropical front, a colder and less researched area. The subtropical front is an area of interest at the most northern part of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Ty and Corbin paced me on the dinghy and in the first couple of hours we made 2 stops to capture some data on 2 ghost nets. It is always strange to see all those different ropes are tangled up together and it becomes more and more apparent that those aggregations of ropes and nets are not due to the currents or motion of the ocean. When we looked closer to these rope clusters we could see that man made knots had been tied to secured ropes and nets together.
I had a smooth swimming day, the good sea conditions helped my progress. Yesterday I passed the 200 nm marker. I still have another 100 to reach my 300 nm goal, but I swim and don’t count: “keep on swimming!”
33º52 N / 143º37 W
Ben
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Photo credits @sea.marshall
