August 31, 2006
Massachusetts
Massachusetts
By Joe Burns/ jburns@cnc.com
Thursday, August 31, 2006
The latest addition to the Greenpeace fleet dropped anchor in Hyannis Harbor this week. The 44-foot cutter-rigged sailing boat Witness, which was donated to Greenpeace, is on its maiden voyage for the international environmental organization. The Wind Tour, as the voyage is called, made its first stop Aug 19 with a visit to Martha’s Vineyard. The boat also made stops at Woods Hole and Hyannis. The ship will be in Provincetown Friday, Saturday and Sunday and return to Hyannis on Labor Day.
The purpose of its visit is to give support to Cape Wind and its efforts to build a wind farm on Nantucket Sound. Visitors to Witness during its Hyannis stay were ferried from the Lewis Bay landing via a small inflatable dinghy powered by an outboard motor. Once aboard they were shown a video that tied together the threats of global warming with the need for clean renewable energy. That was followed by a talk and a Q & A session by Greenpeace campaigner Chris Miller.
The boat is the first Greenpeace craft to fly under the United States flag. Miller said that since the terrorist attacks on Sept 11, it became “more problematic flying a foreign flag in American waters.
“The U.S. flag allows us to have less hassles,” Miller said.
Miller said the boat will be used primarily as it was on this occasion, as a tool to promote Greenpeace campaigns. Because of its size, Witness is able to navigate the shallow waters along the U.S. coast making it ideal for the assignment.
Following its visit to the Cape and islands, the boat will head to Chesapeake Bay, where Greenpeace has been waging a battle against large commercial fishing vessels harvesting menhaden, a fish that is a source of food for striped bass and other game fish.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2006/08/31/witness-for-wind-power/