PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Plettenberg Bay became one of the stops for the popular Boaz yacht en route to Cape Town, on a mission to create awareness about ocean pollution.

Bad weather has, however, kept the yacht – which arrived on Saturday, July 15 – in Plett for longer than expected.

Owner Keith Wetmore and his crew said despite the rough sea conditions they received a warm welcome and were treated to beautiful whale and dolphin sightings.

The 52ft steel motor yacht set sail from Gordon's Bay in Cape Town on July 5 and headed towards Port Elizabeth for the inaugural African Marine Waste conference held there between July 9 and 13.

Since their arrival in Plett, Wetmore and his crew had tried to get back to Cape Town but had to anchor in the bay to wait out stormy conditions. “We weren’t even able to come ashore,” Wetmore said.

They had to wait until Friday, July 21 for conditions to improve before setting sail homeward bound. They finally made it to Gordon's Bay by midday on Sunday, July 23.

Boaz has been dedicated to serving the ocean and to create awareness, education and research on the detrimental effects of plastic pollution in the ocean.

This occurs in collaboration with the Sustainable Seas Trust (SST).

It is intended that Boaz, with its sailing crew, educators and scientists, will sail for several months at a time on a circuit from Cape Town to Mauritius and Madagascar, down past Mozambique along the southern African Coast and back to Cape Town.

On these epic journeys the Boaz will stop at various ports and visit schools promoting awareness and providing resources on the effects of ocean plastic pollution, simultaneously collecting necessary data from the sea along with the evidence of the effects that pollution has on marine life and ecosystems, to further determine the issues the coast was facing with regards to pollution.

ARTICLE: YOLANDÉ STANDER, KNYSNA-PLETT HERALD CORRESPONDENT

'We bring you the latest Plettenberg Bay, Garden Route news'