SPOTTING A LEOPARD IN THE MED

Homo sapiens have survived to become the dominant species on earth not by spotting the similarities in a landscape, but by taking note of the differences. Early man would not have survived on the plains of Africa had he not been able to spot a leopard camouflaged in the grass.

One afternoon during our 2017 sailing season in Greece, we anchored in a beautiful cove near Russian Bay on the island of Poros. As we sat looking out over the landscape, my eyes were drawn to all the rubbish caught in the rocks. I was bothered that our view was spoiled and that such a beautiful cove was marred by human carelessness and indifference.

I had spotted my ‘leopard’ and a journey began that I had never expected to take. I popped our SUP into the water, took a few big blue bin bags with me and paddled to shore. Within minutes, I had cleaned up the little cove and filled a couple of the bags with plastic water bottles and bits of white polystyrene, as well as pieces of rope, fishing nets, lids and a plastic flip-flop.

When I returned to , our Saba 50 sailing catamaran, I sat down