Supporters
Martin Henderson
Actor: Everest, Grey's Anatomy, The Ring,
The Strangers, & Miracles from Heaven
@martinhendersonofficial
Zane Kekoa Schweitzer
Published Author, 2x Ultimate Waterman Champion, ISA World Champion, 3x Master of The Ocean
@zaniac1
On Deck Crew
Phil Somerville
Captain
A native of New Zealand, and a life based in Los Angeles for the last 30 years, has led Phil to be citizen of the planet. Between ages 17 and 21, he visited over 30 countries. Now based in NZ with his wife and two seaworthy children, he has dedicated his life to philanthropy, a connection to people and the Earth. For Phil, protecting our planet for future generations isn't just a desire---it's a living truth.
A vast range of experiences across different industries have taken him from starting an empowerment program for disadvantaged kids, to being part of the Hollywood dream. His film credits include:
Zero Dark Thirty, Iron Man, Captain Phillips, and Mission Impossible.
Phil's true passion is the ocean. He is a Master Diver, holding his
United States Coast Guard Captain's Ticket. His motivation to spread sustainability awareness and ocean conservation are unwavering. This, coupled with belief and commitment to the cause, has led him to sail his 54ft sailboat 'TODAY', across the Pacific to collect data with the 5 Gyres Trawl Share program. As Captain of the mission, it's one of the biggest responsibilities of his life and he couldn't be prouder to give back to the Earth and all it provides.
.png)
Glenn Palmer
Crew
Just a true Kiwi Lad who grew up around, on and in the ocean from the day he was born.
The ocean cast its spell on him early in life through boating with his family. From this he developed his true passion for the ocean. He would spend every possible minute of his youth exploring the ocean with his brother. At the age of 12 a whole new world of scuba opened his eyes to the beauty and serenity of the underwater world, where he and his brother Bruce explored the beauty of the New Zealand coastline. Still to this day the sea fascinates him, whilst still as curious as ever to see what lies beneath the waves, he is just a wee bit slower.
A successful sportsman in his own right representing NZ & Auckland teams across his sports of Rowing and Rugby he has in later life been successful in business holding senior & board positions with NZ companies.
A devoted family man to his wife Sacha and his two wonderful kids – Farrah & Quinn. “This opportunity to join “Eat less Plastic” is to do something for their future. I want my kids to grow up with an ocean that I loved and enjoyed. The greatest peril for our ocean is thinking someone will save it, so joining Phil and the team is a once in a life time opportunity and I feel truly blessed to be on the crew of Eat Less Plastic”.
Stephen White
1st Mate
Steve White is an experienced International Yacht Sailor, senior Yoga Teacher and owner executive winemaker of New Zealand’s most prestigious expensive and collectable red wine producing winery, Stonyridge Vineyard on Waiheke island.
Born into a sailing family his father Warwick White was Commodore of the Royal NZ Yacht Squadron and Stephen completed his first international yacht race, Auckland to Rarotonga, when he was only 15, followed by the Auckland to Fiji race when he was 17.
Just a few months after turning 20 Steve joined Great Britain 2 in the Whitbread (now Volvo) Round the World Yacht Race and rounded the Horn under sail. At 20 years old he was one of the youngest professional yacht skippers in the Greece, Turkey and Italy.
Since then he has done many international yacht deliveries with his good mate Captain Ben Marshall on the super yacht Red Dragon. He has also competed in the Sardinia Cup and the Palma Super Yacht Regatta on Kokomo. He has done three transatlantic crossings; both ways, two transpacific crossings, an Indian ocean crossing and the pirate run from Seychelles up the coasts of Somalia and Yemen and through Suez and into the Mediterranean.
He currently enjoys owning a 12 metre high speed power boat in Auckland.
Stonyridge flagship Cabernet blend red wine Larose has won massive accolades and has held the position as the most expensive and best investment wine in New Zealand for 25 years, beating or equaling Bordeaux first Growth Chateaux including Lafite, Mouton, Latour etc. In 2012 the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age named Larose 2010 as the top cabernet in Australia with a score of 97. Since 2010 Robert Parker’s wine Advocate has scored more than a dozen Stonyridge wines at 92 or more making Stonyridge the most collectable and valuable New Zealand wine. The attached vineyard restaurant has resulted in the UK Guardian naming Stonyridge as one of the Top Ten wineries to visit in the world.
Stephen has also been the senior teacher and owner of a yoga studio in Parnell Auckland. He was a Lululemon ambassador and has taught Power Vinyasa at the global Wanderlust Yoga festival, on several Superyacht deliveries and he regularly teaches Yoga to the Cirque du Soleil performers.
He holds the titles of :
Cavaliero de Casa Real de Portugal, SMOM
Jurade de Saint-Emilion
FreeMan, City of London
.jpeg)
Lauren James
Crew
Lauren is a passionate ocean lover and proud to be a crew member. Having studied Environmental Management and also a Masters in Corporate Sustainability, she is aware of the plight of the oceans and ocean plastic as a key issue and wants to take a more active part in raising awareness and solving this issue, particularly in how businesses can be adapted to have a net positive impact on people and the planet as well as the bottom line. Currently in a senior position in innovation in Global Foodservice at global dairy giant, Fonterra, she hopes to integrate this experience into the corporate world.
An avid adventurer, she is regularly to be found in, on or under the water pursuing adventures from diving to paddleboarding. On land, she competes in trail running events, teaches yoga and as a life coach, coaches clients to reach their potential."
Campbell Farell
Executive Director Love the Sea
Originally from New Zealand, Campbell traveled the world adventuring for 3 years after completing his apprenticeship in Carpentry at the age of 19. Highly attracted to the challenging ocean waters of Maui for windsurfing and surfing, Campbell was in the right place at the right time to join the pioneers of big wave tow in surfing at Peahi---otherwise known as "Jaws". He tackled the giant waves of Peahi for more than 15 years, competing in many paddleboard races. A highlight of this period was winning the Molokai to Oahu SUP paddleboard race with Buzzy Kerbox in 2008.
Campbell has now spent more than half of his life living in Hawaii. He has been a part of numerous business ventures, importing and promoting prominent brands in the water sports industry, such as Mormaii and Starboard SUP. On Maui’s North Shore, Campbell is now partner of a successful convenient Health Food Deli, Coffee and Juice Bar called “Ku’au Store”
In 2010, during a business trip for Range Industries (a NZ company manufacturing shipping pallets from recycled plastic), Campbell met Captain Hayden Smith of Sea Cleaners New Zealand. Eventually their friendship led to forming the nonprofit LOVE THE SEA and co-creating OCEAN AID Hawaii to build awareness and help raise funds for ocean minded non-profit groups who combat plastic pollution.
On April 30th 2017, LOVE THE SEA produced their inaugural Ocean Aid Hawaii music festival held at the world famous venue, The Waikiki Shell on Oahu. Ocean Aid Hawaii was attended by over 5,500 people. The event was free to the public and all nonprofit’s invited were given a free booth at the event. LOVE THE SEA coalition partners were hosted on stage and received free air time while being celebrated as champions of the cause. Ocean Aid was broadcast live across the State of Hawaii for 3 hours on KGMB channel 5. The show has subsequently been nominated for 3 Emmy awards and plans are coming together for the next Ocean Aid 2018 event.
“In the water I have enjoyed some of my most memorable experiences in life… I am driven to protect the ocean from the damage caused by plastic contaminants. I am dedicated to Love The Sea and Ocean Aid. I feel blessed having such a great opportunity to work with people of similar mind, who like me… “Love The Sea, Plastic Free”
Jens Kull
Onboard Artist
Jens Kull is an award winning Media Artist born in Basel, Switzerland. In his early 20's he moved to Mexico City where he studied Photography, Visual Effects, and Video Compositing. This led him to develop his own unique methods for observation of people, nature and urban spaces expressed in a wide range of art work.
Jens passionately interweaves latest technology using a variety of media with the objective to unfold unique angles of realities and possibilities, shifting time, space and individual perception. Since his arrival to Los Angeles, CA he specializes in Virtual and Sensory Reality and develops scientific and artistic content for immersive media, working as an innovative 360DP and XR conceptualist.
Private and public contemporary art collections and institutions (MUAC, Colección FEMSA, Colección Jumex) have purchased or commissioned his works.
His creations and devices have been exhibited in Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Russia, Chile, Brazil, the USA and Mexico.
Jens is finishing illustrations for the latest Spanish translation of Herman Hesse's "Siddhartha" (Editorial Mirlo) and has begun collaborations with "scientist chipping" in his artistic approach to solve problems.
Jens is deeply concerned about the declining health of our planet and channels his creative efforts into sustainability solutions for our society.
Josh Bogle
Surfer, Snowboarder,
Environmentalist & Para Athlete
"..The ocean connects us all by giving us life, sports, and immense wonder. Only a small part of the ocean is explored but we are finding plastics everywhere in it.
I am personally matching your donations up to $2,500 dollar for dollar as personal commitment to fundraise for this voyage, collect important data, and finish this important documentary.
Joining this voyage will be a life changing opportunity for me and hopefully I can bring that same stoke for change to the world.
I have only just started Adaptive surfing this winter. Being invited to surf with the Hawaii Adaptive Surf team is tremendously humbling and I am so stoke to give it my all.
I have been an Adaptive snowboarder for 4 yrs now and got the chance to compete in World Cup & Paralympic Qualifiers pre Winter Olympics. Not making the team didn’t stop me from following my second love being connected to Maui & the Pacific Ocean.
Spending my whole life in both the Rocky Mountains & North Shore Maui have been incredible places that are connected by a respect for the waters of life. The oceans create the atmosphere and tides that give us incredible reefs and life. In many ways you could say that the oceans give us all life with the connection to water! At no time has there been a greater danger to this cycle than right now & we need to adapt our ways of consumer single use plastics. The oceans need our love & help right now not 10 yrs from now. aking this trip I hope to become better informed & connected to these efforts by ELP and Love the Sea's Coalition."
Tim Lara
Hawaiian Paddle Sports
A longtime environmental steward and waterman, Timothy Lara is passionate about the bettering of our environment, community, and the world. He is a leading entrepreneur in sustainable tourism, guiding his flagship company, Hawaiian Paddle Sports, to be the first Certified B Corporation in Maui County and #1 on TripAdvisor. His five ocean activity companies — Hawaiian Paddle Sports, Maui Kayak Adventures, Maui Stand Up Paddle Boarding, Maui Surf Lessons, and Hawaii Mermaid Adventures. With a focus on sustainability practices and community service, giving back to a local non-profit each month.
Tim serves on the Board of Directors for Hawaii Ecotourism Association and Hawaiian Islands Land Trust, A3H, and is a Surfrider Foundation Board Member– Maui Chapter, and the Maui Paddling Hui. He is a coach and paddler at the Hawaiian Canoe Club. In 2016, he was named to Pacific Business News’ 40 Under 40 list of top young business leaders in Hawaii.
Pauline Pearse
Research and Development Scientist
Starting her sailing life in 2008 as a keen volunteer aboard Melbourne's tall ship Enterprize, Pauline isn't shy to don a pirate hat, nor to stand up for what she believes in. The welfare of the environment has always been close to her heart, and the science behind it has always fascinated. Pauline studied a Bachelor of Applied Science (majoring in Biotechnology & Ecology), worked for a biotech company, and then for the Qld Environmental Protection Agency, before moving to Melbourne. It was here, through sailing, and pursuing an International Open Water Dive certification, that she discovered a deep passion for the open ocean and a resolution to 'leave sight of the shore' - in more ways than just the literal.
Five years ago she resigned from her 9-5 job as a Research & Development Scientist, in order to crew on a yacht from Hawaii to Fiji, and devote two years of volunteering in the jungles & countryside of Latin America. This was followed closely by another two years abroad, this time in Europe combining her loves of travel and sailing. It was deep in the Amazon, and then again in the Costa Rican jungle, that she added yet another feather to her hat & another passion grew; working with birds. Pauline says, "to see documentaries now of seabirds, with their stomachs full of plastic, well, that turns my own stomach. We have to fix this. I am super excited to be joining the Eat Less Plastic crew to learn more, to raise awareness, to educate, and to ultimately bring about positive change to our beautiful world."
Whenever her current lifestyle of travel & pet-sitting permits, Pauline also enjoys riding horses, and writing.
Andy Ball
1st Mate
A lifetime water-man and Yachtsman in New Zealand.
Chris Dickson
Co-skipper
Chris Dickson, MBE, has been a professional yacht racing skipper for over 30 years. He has raced successfully in most of the Worlds' Ocean Racing Classics, including the Sydney-Hobart, Fastnet, Transpac, Bermuda and Whitbread (now Volvo) Round the World Race. He is based in New Zealand with his two teenage daughters.
He has skippered in 5 Americas Cups, owned his own Americas Cup and Whitbread Teams, and been CEO for 2 Americas Cups. He has won numerous dinghy titles, competed in the Olympics and won more than a dozen World titles.
Chris is an enthusiastic free diver, stand up paddle boarder and regular television and radio yachting commentator. He races and cruises thousands of ocean miles every year.
Awarded an MBE for “Services to Yachting”, Chris is a self-confessed “lover of the oceans;” and is involved with several ecological programs,
Magen Schifiliti
Trilogy Conservation and Education Director
& Marine Biologist
Magen Schifiliti- Marine Biologist and Trilogy’s Conservation and Education Director.
After completing her Master’s Degree from the University of Western Australia, Magen moved to Maui to pursue her career. She quickly was snatched up by Trilogy Excursions.
Since 1973, Trilogy has been a leader in sustainability both above and below the water. Their involvement in reef clean-up's and other environmentally responsible practices, fostered an environment for their employees to create Blue’aina. Blue’Aina is a campaign that Trilogy has committed to sponsor every month since its inception in January 2010. The objective of the Blue’Aina Campaign is to cleanup and maintain Maui’s reef and surrounding lands, educate the community through classes and citizen science, raise money and lend volunteer support for local non-profits.
In 2017 Magen received the “Tour Guide of the Year” award from Hawaii Ecotourism Association. She sits on the Surfrider Foundation Maui board, and the Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Foundation board.
Magen is excited to join the voyage and play an integral role in the scientific data collection of microplastics, bringing a global connection to Trilogy's Blue’Aina work.
Gavin Houghton
Crew
About six months ago, my brother Mark and I were having a beer with Phil Sommerville and others, when the topic of sailing ‘TODAY’ from LA to Auckland came up.
The idea of sailing off shore has been sitting quietly in the romantic notions of my mind for years, so when the topic came up I immediately blurted expressions of interest. Now that the time has come my enthusiasm has been replaced with a sense of nervous dread and excitement.
Though being a lover of being in and on the water I’ve never done anything like this before, in fact I’ve barely been on a yacht other than being an extra on a few inner harbour rum races, using my massive 78kg frame as a ballast.
I have spent much of my adult life competing in one form of sport or another. Recently that has been predominantly SUP racing but prior to that mostly in triathlon, biathlon and running races. I had the great opportunity to live and work in the north western corner of the US where I got to race the local tri series. That was brilliant.
But as far as adventure goes, things there have been in a far more controlled nature, like a 1000k back country bike across the south Island and a most awesome 10 day hike across the Sierra Nevadas in Central California.
I did smuggle Bibles into China once back in the dark days of communism, but that’s another story.
Now days, I’ve been conformed into a working urbanite, where adventure is traveling to a remote surf spot in Indo, but just so long as it has ‘resort’ somewhere in its name. I have the wonderful fortune of marrying the coolest girl ever and the blessing of an awesome son. It would have been Gold to have either him or the Bro joining me on this trip. But stuff has just got in the way for both of them. Maybe next time.
I’m stoked to be part of this crew and have the opportunity to do something that scares me. I’m also 100% behind finding solutions for plastic. This issue has bothered me for years and I’m constantly amazed at the ambivalence of people to the enormity of this problem. Happy to be a anti plastic evangelist.
.jpeg)
Jonny Beasely
Varo Media
Jonny Beasely is originally Australian before moving to New Zealand. He is now living in Rarotonga for the last 11 years.
He has visited and filmed all through the Pacific and pretty much all of the Cook Islands.
In his spare time he likes to do a lot of spearfishing, paddling, and fishing. He has been getting into planting lately and enjoys gardening.
Jonny is keen to get this very important message out there using his camera. You can check out his work through Varo Media on Vimeo and Facebook. A giant thank you goes out to Grant, Jonny, and the whole team at Varo Media for supporting this project.
Arne Murke
1st Mate
I'm a passionate sailor since age of 9 years and I made my license when I was 18 years old. After I finished my apprenticeship as a carpenter in 2009 I was in the military for one year and then went to work on super yards all around Europe like France, Netherlands, UK,... In 2014 I moved to Switzerland and worked there until May 2018. I know live in the Philippines. I like traveling and adventure including scuba diving, parasailing, sailing, skiing. I am grateful to have visited many countries and most of the continents.
Jeremy Stephenson
1st Mate
Kiwi waterman Jeremy Stephenson, has dedicated his life to the ocean. Whether he is catching morning waves, afternoon racing, or he’s simply paddling his kids around the rocks, every day is by the water.
When it comes to watersports, Jeremy is a force to be reckoned with. He started racing Catamarans from the age of 7 and hasn’t stopped since then. An accomplished Bowman, he has sailed many offshore and international races, including the Auckland-Fiji, Auckland- Noumea, and Sydney-Hobart.
He’s also fondly known as The Godfather of SUP in New Zealand. Having founded the sport here in 2009 with his business SUPSNZ, he has performed at an elite level in a number of prestigious overseas and local Stand Up Paddle Race events and has clocked multiple NZ SUP titles.
These days you’ll mostly find him flying above the waves on an incredible state of the art foil surfboard, riding big waves or soaring effortlessly downwind.
Ian Mckenzie
Yachtsman & Waterman
Kiwi Yachtsman, Ian McKenzie has spent his whole life in and around the ocean. Born into a sailing family, he was introduced to sailing while he was still in nappies.
His father, John McKenzie, was one of the pioneers of ocean racing in New Zealand and Ian got his first opportunity to go offshore at the age of 18.
Through the 70’s and 80’s, he competed in several Whangarei to Noumea, Auckland to Fiji races, as well as the inaugural Auckland to Tonga race. He has completed several delivery trips across the Tasman Sea. His most recent offshore race was the 2012 Auckland to Fiji race where he skippered the boat back to Auckland.
As a passionate lover of the ocean, Ian has jumped at the chance to donate his time and sailing skills to this vital cause.
Magdalena Carey
Hawaii Wildlife Fund
Magdalena Teriitua Carey is a senior naturalist with Hawai'i Wildlife Fund's Honu Watch Project,
She enjoys sharing not only her knowledge about the green sea turtle, but also her passion for the ocean and for the Hawaiian culture. In her spare time, she competes on a Hawaiian canoe paddling team and Beach Volleyball . Originally from Tahiti, Magdalena has called Maui home for over 15 years and holds a deep respect for the island and its people. In addition to her work educating the public about sea turtles, she coordinates HWF's Maui Marine Debris Program, working with volunteers to clean Maui's beaches.
Sasha Nitze
Cinemaui
"...Beyond stoked to share that I have been brought onto the EATlessPLASTIC Voyage! On July 30th I will board the 54ft. sailboat to cross uncharted parts of the Pacific Ocean in order to collect insights on the Oceans rapidly declining health. will be documenting life on the boat, the local’s deep connection to the ocean, and positive plastic pollution solutions. We will be monitoring and documenting visible and invisible plastic waste known as microplastics. The information and data will be sent to the onshore data analysis team who will submit their findings to the public, as well as the global database that impacts legislation transforming the way our culture uses plastic.
Nick Blecke
Captain Island Star Excursions
Nick Blecke is a passionate waterman and Captain for many years in Maui Hawaii. We are grateful to have him on this voyage. This is a special trip for him in remembrance of his recently passed mother.
Chris Kirkham
International Director of Photography
I’m an international Director of Photography specialising in sport, documentary, short features & live production working under the banner of NZ Greenroom Productions Ive helped with 3 major campaigns over the years http://transparentseamovie.com/Save the Maui Dolphin and Kiwis against Seabead mining in NZ both of which David Rastovich was the front man with a core crew around him to help bring change to masses and government legislation much like what ELP is doing.
After 19 years of freelancing and swinging a lens I now find myself settled with a steady flow of pre booked contracts that see me traveling for a minimum of about 5-8 months each year to all corners of the globe. In recent years the majority of my contracts come from BBC Sport and Red Bull Media House. Ive been a lover of the ocean all my life and have spent 25+ years surfing coastlines all over the globe.
I am the father of 2 children (Pippa-Lou 5yrs old & Nya-Lea 8yrs old) so as you can imagine spending time with them when I'm home in ‘Mount Maumnganui- NZ' is my no 1 priority and educating them on how to enjoy life and teaching them skills that can serve them and others around them is a passion of mine. The Pacific Ocean is on our door step and we enjoy it almost ever day of the year.
In July we spent a family holiday to Hawaii and whilst we were there watched the film ‘Synthetic Sea’. After which Nya-Lea who was now old enough to put two and two together had many questions that she wanted answered to understand how we can change our ways as a family and so our journey began.
When we got back home their school http://www.mtprimary.school.nz/ all learnt about the trauma humans have caused the ocean, the effects of the plastics on the marine life and were educated in the ways we can change our current habits to benefit the planet.
Being asked by the ELP team to accompany them on the final leg down the NZ coast was an honour in itself and a perfect opportunity to expand on what Nya-Lea knows and educate her in how to inspire the next generation. Plus I get to spend some rare one on one time with Nya and together we can support a cause that is very close to our hearts.
Attitudes throughout the global need to change now and communicating that through visual media is paramount. That is where I can play a small yet significant role
.jpeg)
Nya Lea Kirkham
Environmentalist
Nya-Lea Kirkham 8yrs old daughter of Chris & Louise Kirkham
sister to Pipa Lou is joining us the Eat Less Plastic NZ Leg.
In July we spent a family holiday to Hawaii and whilst we were there watched the film ‘Synthetic Sea’. Nya-Lea put two and two together had many questions that she wanted answered to understand how we can change our ways as a family and so our journey began.
When we got back to http://www.mtprimary.school.nz/ we all learnt about the trauma humans have caused the ocean, the effects of the plastics on the marine life and were educated in the ways we can change our current habits to benefit the planet.
This is a perfect opportunity to expand on what Nya-Lea knows with her dad and educate her in how to inspire the next generation. Nya is excited to share what she learns with her friends and school back home after the voayge.