Regenerative Tides: Citizen Science Tackles the Fiberglass Boat Crisis

Armed with a smartphone and a shoreline walk, volunteers are tracking toxic GRP dust from busted hulls straight to your oyster plate.

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Pulled from the Goyen River following partial sinking, this fiberglass sailboat was left rotting on the public boat ramp for several months with cracks in the hull exposing fiberglass shards to the surrounding environment. (Photo/ Angie Richard)

I scramble down sharp boulders from the car park to the muddy banks of the estuary, cautious not to slip, metal shellfish gathering basket in one hand, handheld Bluetooth microscope and smart phone in the other. The tide is exceptionally low, revealing the local cemetery of boats stranded along the shoreline.

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Angie is a multidisciplinary storyteller, researcher and academic, exploring how creative practitioners can drive science and envision regenerative futures. Angie is self-building a Wharram Narai Mk IV wooden catamaran with her family, creating a Floating Stories Lab - a regenerative sailboat studio - to depart Europe on a circumnavigation, merging science, art, research, and storytelling to discover how humans can thrive on a flourishing planet. For the latest updates, visit www.voyagevirage.com or subscribe to the Floating Stories Lab Substack newsletter.