Sailing Around the World, Part 2

March 7, 2011

Sailing Around the World, Part 2

Robert Weir (Kalamazoo, MI), author and environmental journalist. "Tall ships, racing yachts, flash floods in India and other adventures."

Robert Weir was on the show again to continue his February 28, 2011, description of his sailing trip across the Atlantic and to India.

This was right after the Japanese tsunami and earthquake and since Mr. Weir is an environmental journalist, Sharon Kleyne asked him about it.

Weir noted that the wave moved as far as three miles inland but that with warning, the Japanese are able to evacuate some coastal areas in 14 minutes. Japan is a clean and beautiful country that is very environmentally aware. Most of their cities lie near the ocean because that's where people prefer to live. Like the Oregon Coast, there is a tsunami warning system in place.

Weir and Sharon Kleyne also discussed the upcoming Earth Day. The original Earth Day, founded by John McConnell in 1968, was intended as a global celebration of Earth, not an environmental protest. It was to be held on the spring equinox each year (March 20 or 21). The original observance was held at the Peace Bell at the Rose Garden at the United Nations in New York City in 1968. The idea was to ring the bell at the exact moment of equinox.

Weir then talked about his boat trips, particularly the tall ships regatta in the Aegean, off the coast of Greece. He later took a cargo freighter from Germany to St. Petersburg, Russia.

After Russia, Weir traveled to India to write about the aftermath of recent flooding on the Indus River. In India, he noted, people who can afford to drink bottled water because the general water supply is unsafe. Bottled water is inexpensive - 30 to 40 cents a bottle.

Website: www.Robertmweir.com .