Blue Habits Ambassador Vessel – Irene IV

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” – Amelia Earhart

On a blustery day, on January 9^th, 2022, Louis Goor and his sister, Sabine Hirsohn, set sail from the Caribbean Island of Antigua on the voyage of a lifetime! A lifelong ambition to live on a boat and sail wherever the winds may blow was finally being realized. Louis and Sabine come from a long line of sailors on both maternal and paternal sides of the family. Growing up in Ireland, where Louis still lives, they have sailed the turbulent seas of the Atlantic Ocean since they were babes in arms. 

With much pomp and ceremony and a loud cannon blast, 28 Oyster sailboats crossed the starting line from English Harbor, Antigua, at the start of the Oyster World Rally. The boats in the rally fleet, ranging in size from 50 -72 feet, were all British designed and built by the luxury blue water cruising boat builders, Oyster Yachts. The Oyster World Rally (OWR) is a 16-month circumnavigation with counsel and support from a tireless staff based in Southampton, England.

Brother and sister were fortunate to call Oyster 655, Irene IV, home for almost 2 years as they journeyed from Kinsale on the southwest coast of Ireland to Antigua for the start of the rally (January 9^th, 2022), and then around the world back to Antigua again for the end of the rally on April 4^th, 2023.

Irene IV is named after their maternal grandmother who loved to sail and whose brother Vernon was the inspiration for this trip. Uncle Vernon, a jolly Irishman with a loud laugh and an enveloping hug, sailed with his family from England to Antigua in 1949 after the war. He had planned to keep on going to Australia but fell in love with the friendly Antiguan culture and never left. He, with his 2 sons, established Nicholson Yacht Charters and Services, which put Antigua on the map as the major sailing destination it still remains to this day. 

Louis and Sabine decided to dedicate this sabbatical journey to learning how to make a difference. 

A difference in the way we conduct our everyday lives in the hopes of safeguarding future generations.

A difference in the lives of those communities that we visit along the way.

And a difference in how our businesses promote sustainable and best practices. As the owner of a business in the plastics industry, Louis feels a heightened responsibility to forge the way for his family and friends, and for his employees. 

They aligned with the Oceanic Society, as an ambassador vessel promoting the Blue Habits Program, a program that is “motivating lasting pro-ocean behaviours.” Declining ocean health is a worldwide problem whose causes—including overfishing, plastic pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change—are diverse and difficult to quantify. “Simply put, people put too much in and take too much out of the seas.” All along the way, Irene IV flew the Oceanic Society Blue Habits Ambassador flag. A conversation starter at many a dinner party.

During our almost two years at sea, we lived the Oceanic Society mission: “Our mission is to improve ocean health by deepening the connections between people and nature to address the root cause of its decline — human behavior.”

Through our blog we endeavored to draw friends, family, and business associates into our experiences –the magical, the devastating, and the mundane.  We shared our “Blue Habits” practices in the hopes of inspiring our readers to follow suit. We did beach and jungle cleans in many parts of the world, whenever possible, without hurting feelings or being perceived as condescending. We dearly hope that we have made even a tiny difference in a smattering of people’s lives, so that the magnificent oceans of the world can be recognized for their importance in the survival of humankind. 

Some of our everyday Blue Habits:

Cloth napkins with bottle top rings as napkin rings  

Washing and reusing plastic bags and air-drying clothing.

Catching our dinner with a fishing rod.      

Sourdough bread baked every 2 -3 days.            

Using cloth food coverings, instead of plastic.  

Natural air conditioning, using a windsock.    

Keeping fruit and vegetables fresh in a swinging mesh hammock, hanging in the main saloon.     

Frequenting fresh food market instead of supermarkets.

We used reef friendly products with as little plastic as possible: sunscreen, bug spray, cosmetics, household cleaners, dental floss, toothpaste, loose leaf tea instead of teabags, reusable cloth vegetable bags and grocery bags, biodegradable parchment paper, and steel rather than plastic Tupperware. One rather unfortunate amendment we had to make was using plastic bags lined with paper towels to keep some vegetables fresh in the fridge for longer periods of time. We tried many other solutions, but all failed. We encouraged all crew members to wear natural fiber clothing with as little plastic content as possible.

We tried at all times to live up to our motto, the wise words of Chief Seattle: 

“Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints.”