Let me thrown a curve ball to you.
In mentioning the submarines in the posting before, I was spurred on to add this subject to my discussions of a sailing/gamefishing boat. I have always been interested in the field of oceanography, and I am REAL concerned that we are damaging our oceans unknowingly and possible to a very great extent. We don't readily see this, as it is out of site, 'underwater' you might say.
In there defense, the gamefishing guys have seen a decline in their prey, and have instituded a tag-and-release strategy. Just yesterday I heard an alarming report on the HUGE decline in the eel populations of the north atlantic. Scientist can't explain it, but don't you imagine this very prolific sea creature's demise is certainly effecting some other segment of the ocean world that depends on an abundance of this species??
So I've copied a portion of a proposal intro letter I wrote to address some of these concerns. I've written to quite a number of well-healed persons that might be able to take advantage of some tax incentives to see such a project through.....so far, no takers. Does anyone else know of a party I might send such a Proposal to??
______________________________
Lee-Kahn Foundation
Subject: Grant Request, Submission of Initial Letter of Inquiry
Per the home page of your website and one of your foundation’s most basic goals,
"may our children and our children’s children experience the magic of Dolphins playing with the ocean waves".
We are currently at a real risk of this not happening!!…..we are on the brink of an environmental disaster that may very soon be inflicted upon our oceans, and by our own Navy! Refer to the article, "
A Texas Size Kill Zone" of dolphins, whales, big-game fish, and unknown other species.
http://www.bigmarinefish.com/sonar_notice.html I spent some time working with the nuclear submarines. This is happening. If we permit our oceans to become a cemetery, we may damage its alter ego the atmosphere and ultimately our planet itself.
Our oceans are a precious resource, even beyond our own imagination. We need more qualified academics in pure oceanography, in contrast to those drawn away into military weapons development or searching/developing oil resources in our seas. We need to get more kids excited about ocean studies… …
initiate and perpetuate their interest. There are no Jacques Cousteau programs as there were in my youth. We need
some training & introductory vessels for these students , and I think a few of them require a romantic image in order to lure some of these young people aboard.
SAIL is one answer.
I have over the past couple of years been in search of a client to build a very unique sail-powered, world- capable, gamefishing vessel. In reality I would much rather see such a vessel
utilized as a fisheries research vessel , per the brief references on my website and a number of letter/proposals I have generated in search of that patriarchal owner/donor. Copies of these letters are available. And please visit my website
http://www.RunningTideYachts.com , owner/charter section.
In my letter to Netscape's Jim Clark I suggest that the creation of this vessel should be an exceptionally fun & exciting project. And then most rewarding, the placement of this vessel into a foundation organization for the use of a consortium of schools with ocean programs. I specified 'consortium' such that any one school is not over burdened with the whole of the expenses nor the demands of operating their own vessel, such as might occur when a private vessel is donated to a specific school.
Mr. Kahn should find this sailing project very interesting; both on the innovative merits of the sailing design itself, as well as the vessel's utilization in the education of our youth in the oceanographic disciplines. Like an old Zen saying, "the journey is the reward." He might also find my letter to Katie Couric of interest, wherein I quote his ship’s log entry from the Trans Pacific Race 2001, "taking my son Shark along was one of the best things I did for the both of us. Priceless!"
The goal is to provide at least one vessel, or several such vessels as hinted at in my letter to Bill Ford Jr. This vessel(s) would be operated by a non-profit foundation….either a newly created one, or assimilated into several already existing foundations.
The new vessel design should be given a minimum of 1 year in development and construction time. The cost should range between 1.2 to1.5M. I have also identified two existing vessels (one fully operational, and the other 90% complete) that could become similar candidates for this work, and could begin work while the new design was in build. These two are available at bargain prices of 250K & 390K respectively. The grant is required to purchase the vessel(s) and put the project in motion. The operating expenses of both the vessels & foundation would come from a selection of worldwide businesses that seek out association with 'green projects' such as this, and from premium (charitable) charter donations from individuals & businesses seeking to entertain a social or business function onboard. The schools would be asked to share a portion of the expenses to their capabilities.