WINDSURFING FOR A CLEANER PLANET

Merijn Tijnga aka Plastic Soup Surfer kicked off his latest expedition on June 22nd, an 850 km windsurfing and SUP journey from London to Paris.

After completing his Oslo to London campaign in 2023, he was now headed to the French capital, were he arrived on July 11th, just weeks before the Olympics.

His mission remained steadfast, to promote a bottle deposit system. Upon reaching Paris, he was welcomed by Mayor Anne Hidalgo and held a conference to discuss effective solutions against littering and plastic pollution. Bottle deposits have proven to be highly effective, and reduced plastic bottle and can litter by 80% in the Netherlands when implemented.

DESCRIBE THE JOURNEY IN ONE SENTENCE.

It was an amazing and indescribable experience, very intense and sometimes dangerous, with surprising and wonderful encounters. The full extent of the word ‘adventure’ is applicable.

WHAT WAS THE RECEPTION LIKE WHEN YOU ARRIVED IN PARIS?

The reception by Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris was great. She approached me as if I were her long lost nephew. She took her time and with Notre Dame in the background we had a coffee next to the Seine under a parasol and I had the full opportunity to discuss the benefits of bottle deposit schemes as the most effective way to combat plastic pollution.

HOW DID THE WINDSURF PART GO? DID YOU GET NO WIND OR STORMY CONDITIONS EN ROUTE?

I was lucky in regards to storms of which I had none. It could have been awful to get caught in front of the Normandy cliffs and fierce stony beach break in high winds. I did experience a few days with very little wind but the great thing about being on the water all day is that you see the weather and wind change. You throw your sail down in the water and sulk that there is no wind and that you will get nowhere today and then the next moment the wind picks up and what was 6 hours sailing an hour ago is now only an hour away.

 WHAT SAIL AND BOARD DID YOU USE?

I used a Severne prototype IQ foil 8.0m2 four chamber sail. It did everything I hoped for. We chose this because of its ‘trim’-ability and its performance upwind. I raced it downwind to 6bf winds without a problem. My board was custom shaped by Ron van den Berg; the brother of ‘84 olympic champion Stephan van den Berg. We used recycled EPS for the core and organic flaxen for the deck. We incorporated littered plastic bottles I collected from the Thames in London and the Seine in Paris in its deck. In last year’s windsurf expedition (Oslo-London 1800k) we also used mushroom tread (mycelium) but that got soggy and heavy so we only used plastic bottles for the deck this year. Still the board was quite heavy because of the organic flaxen and bottles (approx 25kg).

THIS JOURNEY MUST HAVE BEEN A CONTRAST TO YOUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE. HOW WAS THIS A DIFFERENT CHALLENGE?

The contrast with the Oslo-London expedition was mostly in the challenges of the rocky coast and the fierce currents of the English channel. In general there was more container shipping and large ports to navigate. It is always nerve wracking to pass shipping lanes and ports. It felt great, free and as a personal accomplishment to cross the English channel unassisted from Dover to Boulogne sur Mer (50km) (I had a GPS tracker, VHF, flare and sighting compass with me for security). 

HOW DID YOUR PREVIOUS JOURNEY FROM NORWAY TO LONDON HELP YOU ON THIS CHALLENGE?

Well I knew what I should take with me and what to expect. I was less afraid and more confident to cross 60km stretches across open water and knew what to do when large container ships loomed on the horizon.

ON YOUR PREVIOUS JOURNEY, YOU WEREN’T ABLE TO CROSS THE CANAL FROM FRANCE TO THE UK. WERE YOU ABLE TO EASILY MAKE THE STRETCH ACROSS FROM THE UK TO FRANCE THIS TIME? 

Last year I wasn’t able to surf across the channel because of the severe wind conditions and my schedule was too tight to wait for a wind window because of the appointment I had with the members of parliament in Westminster London. I ended up crossing it by ferry with my board on the roof rack of a car. It felt like a defeat. It had become sort of a personal mission for me to show myself that I could cross the channel unassisted. I was very nervous starting out because there was very little wind starting in Dover and I was afraid the Dover port authorities would see me and take me from the water. But as planned and predicted the wind increased as I got further from the shore and by the time I got to the first shipping lane I had enough wind to maneuver the board around the freighters with confidence.

DID YOU ENCOUNTER ANYTHING PECULIAR ALONG THE WAY WORTH SHARING?

Apart from plastic pollution on the shores and in the water I saw 4 dolphins surfacing very close to me. To see these creatures up close is exhilarating and makes you a passerby on your board. They move with such ease. Even though I am one with my board after all these days of waking up on my board it is no comparison. The ocean is theirs.

HOW WAS PLASTIC POLLUTION ALONG THE WAY?

Even though I have been active in this field for 10 years now I cannot close my eyes for the fact that everywhere you go, and especially the remote beaches, you find plastic everywhere. In the Seine I saw plastic floating by almost constantly but also in the English channel I saw pieces of plastic floating by every hour.

 WAS THERE AS MUCH MEDIA COVERAGE AS WHEN YOU ARRIVED IN LONDON?

We did get a lot of national media coverage in the Netherlands but alas the unpredicted French snap elections and the Eurocup dominated the news in France as I arrived. But the media is always unpredictable with crazy expeditions like mine. We were less lucky than in London last year where the BBC made a prime time news item on my arrival at Tower Bridge.

 DID YOU GET TO DISCUSS ANY SUBSTANTIAL EFFORTS OR CONCRETE PLANS OF ACTION WITH THE MAYOR OF PARIS AND THE RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS?

Yes, she had planned half an hour for me but it became an hour in which I had the time to discuss the interests and counter lobby forces holding back the most efficient instrument to tackle plastic pollution: bottle deposits. I have a lot of knowledge on this system and the lobby because in the Netherlands I was involved in its introduction through a petition I had started in 2016 and parliamentary resolution I had written myself (the Plastic Soup Surfer motion) that became the political breakthrough on the subject and the basis for the bottle deposit policy. After introduction it reduced littered bottles and cans by 80% within 6 months(!) and thereby 40% of all littering.

WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME OF THIS JOURNEY IN RELATION TO THE DESIRED OBJECTIVE?

I am very pleased. The mayor of Paris is very influential. ‘Consigne’ or bottle deposits will have a novel gravity for her and her cabinet. And also the conference I organized with the major stakeholders and the task force that was set up as a result will exert its influence in the coming year. Of course it all remains to be seen what is going to happen politically in France but I believe I managed to get ‘Consigne’ high up on the agenda and got to advocate for the benefits with the most influential people.

ANY OTHER ADVENTURES IN THE PIPELINE?

These journeys have always been initiated by myself. This time though I have been invited to windsurf to Barcelona and also Nice. I might combine that next year and windsurf from Nice to Barcelona. Would love that!

London-Paris is Merijns tenth long distance surf expedition.

You can support Merijn’s mission on PlasticSoupSurfer.org and by checking his Yotube channel

IMAGES BY: PLASTIC SOUP SURFER

More Severne news