Margo Pellegrino set out today from Little Egg Harbor in Beach Haven, NJ, on her 500-mile journey in support of Oceans 21.  See footage of the launch on NBC 40 (click "video included" button) and at the Asbury Park Press.

Margo's Blog: July 1 

Wooeee- what a first day. I was looking forward to a relatively easy, fast first day, as NOAA was calling for winds out of the south, but with t-storms later in the day. As I stood on the dock with my boat ready to go, answering reporters' questions about why I was hitting the water again while keeping an eye on my daughter Julia playing by the water, I watched with a slightly sinking feeling as the flag, blowing to the north, shifted to point east.  Blast.  An ama (outrigger) side wind. The Fuze is a fairly stable boat, and I keep the ama heavy because the last thing I need is to huli all aver the place. It makes for a slower pace, but it keeps me upright. Despite the miles I paddled last year, I still pretty much consider myself to be a novice paddler. There's a lot to learn to be really good, as in any sport.

The ama side wind makes for a slighlty uncomfortable ride, as the chop pops up the ama (the outrigger) where it then catches the wind nicely and over you go! So yesterday's paddle wasn't the most comfortable- but - did manage to ride some of the swells that were kicked up.  John Fischer and his merry crew of fellow Coast Guard Auxiliarists met me on the water at the rt. 37 bridge. There they escorted me to the Pt. Pleasant canal. The marine policeman on duty came out and yelled at me (paddlers are not allowed to paddle through), until I mentioned that I called last week about it. I was going to wait until the tide had shifted, but didn't feel like hanging around. There were little rapids, and it was quite a slog, especially through one patch where I almost felt like I was in danger of going backwards.

But it was a fine day, really. One paddle stroke at a time. Thanks so much to John and the gang- it was great to have them on the water-boat traffic in NJ is a truly unique experience! And thanks to Mark Gallo for hosting me again. Both he and John F are "repeat offenders." They hosted and escorted me last year as I paddled my way to Maine.

You can never do too much for Mother Ocean. Reading Roz Savage's blog (rozsavage.com-she's rowing the Pacific right now to higlight the problems of plastic in the ocean), I had to laugh at one of the comments-a qoute fom George on Seinfeld, who apparently tried to rescue a whale or something and got tossed and tumbled by the sea-"the ocean is angry my friends!"

Oh--much thanks to the crew at NRDC for all their work on ocean (and other) conservation. And if you are an ocean lover, please visit Blue Frontier (.org) and sign up for the Blue Summit in March '09. It will be a great event!