The Plastique Sea Barge Tribe. New Myth #26 by Willi Paul

"Peddle on down to a floating seed sharing, permie planting, old shoe tool lending library- up and down our good Cascadian coast-"

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The water world eco-community from Hell? Nope. From Sausalito.

I jumped on board the "Plastique Sea" as their new solar chef with little to loose – never envisioning the many lessons that lie ahead for me and the rag tag and green crew. The "ship" is more like a barge than a standard sea-going vessel, constructed of bound and rebound plastic refuse from Fukushima to Pt. Reyes like reed boats from ancient Egypt:

"Reed boats and rafts, along with dugout canoes and other rafts, are among the oldest known types of boats. Often used as traditional fishing boats, they are still used in a few places around the world, though they have generally been replaced with planked boats. Reed boats can be distinguished from reed rafts, since reed boats are usually waterproofed with some form of tar. As well as boats and rafts, small floating islands have also been constructed from reeds."

An ironic twist to the localization movement throughout Cascadia, the Plastique Sea is a moving permaculture experiment, a bobbing and rolling decentralized government with a flag and a rowdy group chant. SeaOccupy? The Plastique Sea Barge Tribe is another example of community initiation in the post-Transition era.

"How do we make our share of Cascadian Barterbucks?"

"We barter fish we catch for supplies. Sometimes water from the on board desalination works. Cascadia pays the ship to collect and recycle ocean garbage. We are great at whale and dolphin watching tours, too. We usually sell a few flotation devices that we construct from the sea trash. Drift wood is dried and sold."

"Kelp?"

" Oops, right. We have a continuous kelp harvest and drying program can provide food for the peeps on dry land."

"And a few travelers are taken aboard for a slow water taxi ride between ports."

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Some of worker roles on board the Plastique Sea:

Seamstress – these guys need to repair garments and the ships seams!

Hook Maker – fishing hooks are fashioned from the metals collected with the floating plastic

Children Watcher – like the babysitter only with harnesses and sun screen

Look-out – the crew is always on the horizon for pirate ships looking to blunder and sink the community

Fire Tender – solar ovens – fires on towed kitchen platform

Tour Guide – Scanning both heavens and the sea, guides entertain the taxi customers and crew

Navigator – Since the ship is always just a few miles off shore, recognizing land forms and towns is a daily regime

Teacher – for the kids

Solar Chef and the Cooks – thanks God for the massive amount of aluminum foil that bobs up from the currents.

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Plastic gold from Japan floats around and down the coast of Alaska in a North Pacific Ocean alchemic rush – trash to transport; wind to back; sun tan to burnt red.

remember?