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Apr 02, 2007: discovering environmental topics

25°C / 77°F

Position:75' N-80° 19' W

Wind: 10km/h

Miami Beach society discovering environmental topics.
This weekend, we had several opportunities to spread the environmental
perspective and arguments which were fully accepted by our listeners. At
the Miami Yacht Club we were honoured to receive the flag of the club from
the Commodore.

All the myths and legends about Miami the Showy, Fancy and Fashionable are accurate; but now the Miami Beach high society is discovering environmental topics. The news about the "sun21" crew spread from party to party. It began immediately: Two young Swiss business people, not yet in their thirties, ­Charles Jordi and Simon Troxler, invited us to the garden party "round" held by Bob Ferrera in Coconut Grove: In a luxuriant tropical garden, we met a biodiversity of people: ­ artists, landscape architects, PR-people, one of the five Miami commissioners, the people responsible for "Culture in the City", neighbourhood activists and business people. The environmental perspective and arguments are fully accepted especially after taking our "amazing" trip into consideration. During our presentation, we could voice our ideas and tried to encourage people to take steps of their own in order to explore the huge innovative potential of this society. Roberto "Bob" Pellegrini, a cameraman and 3-D photographer, broadcast the film of our arrival on a big screen in the garden. Many people approached us afterwards. They described successful examples of implementation and discussed possible ways to get involved with us; and a distinguished handsome man grabbed our right hands. After this handshake, Ted Fuller left us one of his medals as the Command Master Chief of the US South East Coast Guard and offered his concrete support in any circumstances during the last part of our journey. After this extraordinary evening, Charles and Simon not only gave us a ride back to our boat, but they also promised us to travel to New York for our arrival. Incidentally, the oldest Yacht Club also heard about our expedition: ­ the Key Biscane Y. C. to which Beat was introduced through his cousin, helicopter pilot Romed. On Saturday evening, we were special guests of "our" Yacht Club, the Miami Y.C. After the presentation by our host John Van Leer, we were honoured to receive the flag of the club from the new Commodore. The next day, many Club members came as visitors. During the demonstration tour in Miami Harbor, a "pirate ship" full of joyful and dancing youngsters cheered us. Today, we also prepared our boat for the Mayor's reception tomorrow. In spite of all its adventures, our brave catamaran is still in perfect shape to be presented.