SV WAYA WAYA & The Posidonia Guardians

The Crew

All his life Manuel (Austria) was drawn to the sea and its creatures. During his travels, he met his wife Pinar (Turkey) and they now sail the Mediterranean together.

These two ocean lovers run the Marine conservation NGO called Project Manaia that has been organising research expeditions in the Mediterranean for the past 6 years. They organize Beach cleanups, measure Seagrass meadows, keep track of Marine mammals and invasive species and many other projects simultaneously.

The Sailboat

Name – WAYA WAYA

Model – Plan Joubert 21

Hull / Rigg: Monohull / Schooner

Home Port – Vienna (Austria)

Length / Beam – 21 m / 5,5 m

Built – 1987

Material – Steel

Motivation to join the recycling fleet

“It has become very obvious that plastic is an increasingly big issue we need to tackle. During Marine mammal observations underway, we document about 200 times more floating plastic than animals! We witnessed remote beaches flooded with trash and decided to do something about it. While beach cleanups are a great effort, it is often questionable what happens with the collected trash afterwards. Working with mobile recycling machines is an incredible tool for engaging schools, clubs and other interested people to show them what a precious resource plastic really is and be able to showcase on the
spot that we can make something out of the “trash” we collect on beaches!”

Group 5

Currently cruising in the general area of

MEDITARRANEAN SEA

"Our Recycling Superpower? Engaging people on a big scale, as we organise workshops and cleanups with a variety of diving centers, clubs and organisations on our travels we manage to touch hundreds of people every single year and hope to snowball the movement of not only cleaning but recycling the trash from our seas into useful pieces along the way!"

The Fleet Members