Ben & Ari (Sea Stewardship) Support Fund

Dearest Donors,

Here is an update of the status of our ship and how your donations helped us to cope with the overwhelming task of salvage.

We apologize for not keeping you up-to-date more often on the salvage operation through this Give-a-little site. We were quite overwhelmed with the impact that the catastrophe had on our personal lives and had to limit our communications with the community through FaceBook and online- and local newspaper.

I wish I had communicated better with all our donors personally, because ,apparently, a few people made assumptions that we didn’t use the money for the salvage costs. We were trying hard to find ways for repurposing hardware and minimizing landfill, as well as keeping the labor costs local. The plans were to turn our wrecked vessel into a playground with a pirate ship theme at Talking Tree Hill Nature School. They were very enthusiastic about the idea and we were super excited that our shipwreck would be put to a good cause.

The process of the planning, design and waiting for the official approval by Auckland council took more time than foreseen. Another massive storm passed over the island and broke our ship into a million bits, leaving flotsam all over Matiatia Bay. Of course we immediately hired a local contractor and started the beach cleanup. This was the point where several people (understandably) got upset. Less understandable was the blaming and shaming that happened on social media by people who didn’t bother to find out the true story that had been published in Stuff News and Facebook.

It was a huge challenge to stay sane during this tragic period. The support that we received from the community helped us to deal with the day-to-day reality of the catastrophe. We were not prepared for the public and personal attacks on social media, and the lack of empathy from a few individuals broke our hearts. Thankfully, the big hearts in our community continued to uplift our spirits.

The initial salvage estimates were in the vicinity of $70,000. We had lost our home and did not have the means to deal with this kind of expense. Much effort was spent trying to lower that price by keeping it local.

In the end the bill from the salvage company was $57,587. Thanks to the donations on Give-a-little, we could offer the Auckland Harbourmaster $12,000. We paid another $7,500 for private contractors, tools, disposal costs etc. Besides that, there was revenue of recycled materials (aluminium, stainless steel and leaden keel and ballast) that added up to $15,232. We hope to achieve transparency with this update and are willing to answer anyone who has specific questions.

We are incredibly grateful to our steadfast friends and volunteers who showed up when we needed them most. We all are faced with challenging times. Young and old, rich and poor, this global transition affects everyone. Apart from losing our home, we have the feeling that we lost part of our identity. But our belief in Sea StewardShip still stands strong. We are passionate about environmental ethics and cherish the ocean, devoting our lifestyle to protecting it.

A very kind soul has gifted us with the use of a 42 foot catamaran named “Vida”. This opportunity offers a new life to continuing our work in the Hauraki Gulf.

Thank you again for your kind support and, one day, we hope to see you on board on one of our environmental expeditions.

Ari and Ben