It was nearly 9:00AM and the marine layer sat upon the ocean like a thick layer of vanilla frosting. People moved along the Pacific Beach Boardwalk in running shoes, on skateboards, bikes and rollerblades. You would never know it was only nine in the morning in this beach town, as girls and boys dressed up in red white and blue waited in line to get into any pub or bar to watch USA play in the World Cup game. Although the game was a loss for our country, the day itself was rather productive, and it all began with a beach cleanup…
Three times a month, the Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter comes together to cleanup our beaches that become overwhelmed with empty bottles, plastic straws, cigarette butts and more. Aolani has supported the Surfrider Foundation for years now, the non profit organization that is dedicated not only to the protection of our oceans and beaches, but also to the enjoyment of them. Because we have a business on the water doing private sailing charters, it is important to us to keep our ocean playground clean and thriving. At a time when roughly 60,000 barrels of oil are draining into the Gulf of Mexico, it seems like a much more difficult task now then ever, making it that much more important to get involved.
And so.. we did. We started with an empty bag, but soon after scouring the sand, the bushes, the parking lots, we had already collected over 450 cigarette butts, and 3 lbs of miscellaneous trash, most of which was plastic. Although this bag of trash is minor in the scheme of things, every bag of trash that is prevented from ending up in our ocean is accounted for and that is what makes our time at a Surfrider cleanup completely worth every second. As a local San Diego business that works on the water every day, it put things into perspective for us as we prevented plastic cups and six pack rings from entering the underwater world we care about so much. As we walked along the boardwalk we began to get irritated. “Why can’t they just put this in the trash?” Lindsay asked (daughter of Aolani owner, Bruno Schwarz). We noticed all the restaurants lining the boardwalk, plastic straws and lids surrounding their place of business. As we realized how easy it is for many to be careless, it suddenly became crucial for us to become more careful. After all, it would be foolish of us to go on doing the same thing, expecting different results. After two hours we gladly recycled our findings, grabbed a “Hold On To Your Butt” bumper sticker (because “beaches and streets are NOT ashtrays”), and left with a feeling of accomplishment. After leaving Crystal Pier, we had already become more aware of each piece of trash we came across. Every cigarette, every cup, every newspaper amongst the hustle and bustle of surfer and observer alike, was noticed. Our eyes were open, no longer ignorant, and we were watching. And we are still watching today, as a Surfrider Foundation Member and proud local business owner of a sailing catamaran that utilizes the wind instead of diesel at all times possible and a company who recycles the bottles and cans that we go through on a given private charter.

Later this day, we had a sailing charter. We took a family out sailing around San Diego Bay and came across a seal sitting on buoy 19. He winked at us as we passed, and we took it as a Thank You, a thank you for preventing even one marine animal from getting caught in another plastic mess, and that is what makes our time cleaning the beach so worth it.
To get involved in a beach cleanup in San Diego, check out Surfrider’s 2010 Beach Cleanup Schedule.

Aloha,
The Aolani Catamaran Crew

Cindy Schwarz of Aolani Catamaran at Surfrider Beach Cleanup

Buoy 19 Seal, picture taken from Aolani Catamaran

Seal Winks at Aolani Catamaran Crew