Cote D'Azur

Have noted a reduction in the amount of plastic in the water in recent weeks. North Spain and the west part of the French Mediterranean: no plastic slicks to report. On land there's plastic to find if you're on the look out, but what there is isn't necessarily recent. Maybe just a south Med problem? Someone else's problem?

Nope. Sigh. The Cote D'Azur is stunning - and I'll pull together some of the nicer pictures and post those too, another time - but for today a dose of sad reality: water borne plastic the last two days sailed has been at depressing levels.

And surely water borne plastic is what counts! Once on the arid desert-like beaches it arguably does little harm. It would probably do more good in terms of education to remain there. By cleaning beaches - and then hiding the evidence - rather than promoting awareness and change, the required attitude and policy shifts are delayed. Cleaning beaches makes it easier for us to maintain our addiction to single use plastic. The strips of sand get tidied up, but the sea - where the life of the ocean lives - gets more and more choked.

Plan is to take a few days off here at Juan-les-Pins to fit in a bit of work (board repairs and other), write, catch up on sleep, vitamins, optimism! etc... Then finish this tour de France.