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A steel cutter-rigged sailboat on a one-of-kind mission to raise ocean awareness and spread environmental activism across two continents is coming to Juneau for its first stop Tuesday.

The 64-foot sailboat Ocean Watch embarked on its 13-month, 24,000 nautical mile voyage May 31 from Seattle, aimed with the goal of circumnavigating, by sailboat, the North and South American continents. The ship will stop in four Alaska ports: Juneau, Dutch Harbor, Nome and Barrow. It leaves Juneau on June 14 to continue its 11-country, 31-port tour.

"I think it's critically important that people become more aware of ocean conditions, because the world's oceans are at serious risk," said Theresa Svancara, a Juneau resident and a port call organizer for the expedition, called Around the Americas.

In Juneau

Crewmen will give public tours of the Ocean Watch from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday. Friday night, the crew will show "A Sea Change," a documentary about ocean acidification.

Svancara describes ocean acidification as the evil twin to global warming. Like global warming, it is caused by an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

According to the film's co-producer Sven Huseby, 30 percent of what's in the atmosphere ends up in the ocean, where carbon dioxide becomes carbonic acid.

"The problem with that is, if you are a marine creature that needs calcium carbonate to either form your bones, like a fish, or to form your shell if you're a shellfish, then you can undergo a lot of stress," Svancara explained to KTOO's Jeff Brown in a June 2 interview. "You may not even be able to survive."

Huseby said our oceans have become 30 percent more acidic in the last 100 years.

"Increased acidity is being seen insignificantly up along the Pacific coast heading right up into Alaska," he told KOMO4 TV station in Seattle.

It's a little known problem but could be devastating to ocean life.

"It's actually quite frightening what ocean acidification could do," Svancara said. "I think, very soon, it will become just as well known as global warming is."

Juneau's showing of "A Sea Change" will be the first in Alaska. It premiered to a full house March 14 at the 17th annual Environmental Film Festival in Washington, D.C. It was the first time in history of the festival there was standing room only, Svancara said.

"If there's only one event you can partake in next week, I think the documentary on Friday is probably the most important thing for us to become aware of," she added.

Svancara also urged Juneau residents to see the boat and follow the voyage online at www.aroundtheamericas.org. The Web site is updated every two hours.

"I hope Juneau residents will learn more about the threats not only to the marine life in the oceans, but also how the threats can possibly impact us," Svancara said, "Also, what action can be taken."

Research

More than 40 organizations and more than 30 individuals have either contributed to the expedition's cause or joined the expedition in hopes of educating North and South Americans on the changing conditions and threats to their ocean environment and mobilizing them to take action to improve ocean health.

One scientist, Michael Reynolds, who is on the expedition from Seattle to Barrow, will lecture Wednesday night about Around the Americas project, which was three years in the making, and the eight on-board research projects.

Also, 10 scientists from six institutions have an array of instruments on board to collect data sets throughout the voyage. Research conducted on the ship ranges from polar science and weather to jellyfish populations and the reflection of solar energy. Brief descriptions of these projects and updates will be provided throughout the voyage on their Web site.

Cutter and crew

The cutter, designed by Bruce Roberts, has been outfitted and laid out for extensive long-range voyaging and expedition-style sailing.

Ocean Watch will travel through the Northwest Passage to the East Coast, down the East Coast in the Atlantic, around the southern tip of South America and back up to Seattle.

The ship is manned by captain and project director Mark Schrader, a marine conservationist and wildlife advocate, who has sailed solo around the world twice. David Logan is his first mate and David Thoreson and Herb McCormick are watch captains.

At any given time, the ship will be manned with about eight people - four permanent crew and four rotating slots: one scientist, one educator and two VIP or media representatives. Now on its way to Juneau, the ship carries the four permanent crew members, one scientist and two support crew, a boatbuilder and his assistant.

Dave Rockefeller Jr., director and former chairman of Rockefeller & Co. Inc., has spearheaded the voyage. According to his online bio, he is an active participant in the nonprofit arena, especially in the areas of environment, the arts, public education and philanthropy. He is vice chair of the National Park Foundation and former national vice chair of the Alaska Conservation Foundation. Among other accomplishments, he also co-founded Sailors for the Sea.

"He has a deep concern for the ocean, and he does a lot of work on ocean issues," Svancara said of Rockefeller.

View it now

View Around the Americas online for a plethora of information: crew logs, ocean education, route map, crew bios, etc.

In Crew Log 7 on June 4, watch captain Herb McCormick writes about Campbell River, British Columbia. He said for him, the trip has been "an eye-opening experience."

"Back East, we don't see tidal ranges in the double digits very often, nor currents that can speed along at equally impressive numbers," he writes. "You learn quickly here in the Pacific Northwest's countless straits and narrows that ebbs and floods dictate schedules and progress, and that the will of man is just so much folly and folderol. ...

"We're still all in shorts and T-shirts, and from a meteorological standpoint, at least, continue to play with house money," he concludes. "Second, we saw our first pair of bald eagles, which I found breathtaking. Finally, we also crossed the 50th parallel, and on that score, despite the chutes and ladders, it's clear that we're still making tracks for Alaska."

The Ocean Watch is scheduled to return to Seattle on June 20, 2010.

• Contact Neighbors editor Kim Andree at 523-2272 or kim.andree@juneauempire.com.