What Is Plastic Tides?
Plastic Tides is a 501c3 nonprofit organisation comprised of dedicated adventure conservationists with a common goal: shedding light on plastic pollution. Its team members put their bodies and minds on the line to confront this serious environmental problem through novel means. Living solely on stand-up paddleboards (SUPs), their expeditions take them to remote locations around the world to document their beauty and to expose the rampant plastic pollution that threatens their ecosystems. Combining adventure and hard science, Plastic Tides’ expeditions bring fresh awareness to this ubiquitous problem.
The Devil’s Isle Challenge: May 4-7, Bermuda
The longest ocean SUP race in the world, The Devil’s Isle Challenge is an elite endurance race, a personal challenge, a family friendly event, a cultural experience, and a fundraiser to give back to the community and protect the environment.
Welcome to a new kind of stand up paddleboard (SUP) race. Bringing in paddlers from far and wide, the race will test their skills and resolve against a grueling 40 mile circumnavigation of the island. From pro’s to beginners, everyone is invited. Those looking for a fun and exciting experience with friends can form teams of up to eight to take on the challenge as a relay. The real contest though will be amongst the pro’s, taking on the variable conditions unique to island circumnavigation, vying for the title and to set the record straight.
Launching from Snorkel Park, the circumnavigation will take between six and 13 hours. Anyone in the world can easily track the racers as they make their way around the island through the online GPS tracker and through the live streaming race coverage. Back at base the paddlefest will be ramping up. Geared towards beginners, intermediates, kids, and community, the paddlefest will keep spectators entertained. There will be a short kids race, an intermediate race, rentals for open paddling, sustainability workshops, and vendors providing food, drinks, and entertainment on the beach. Visitors and locals alike will be watching the racers go around the island while enjoying what Bermuda does best – the beach.
Giving Back SUP’R Kids Paddling Program
An opportunity to give back, further the message, and inspire youth.
The event’s media will be used to raise awareness of plastic pollution issues and simple everyday solutions to the problem. The proceeds will support SUP’R Kids Bermuda, a free youth paddling program
wherein one night a week all summer long any kid in Bermuda can come and paddle for free. The key to a sustainable future is inspiring the next generation of ocean advocates and as we know first hand, those who play in the ocean are motivated to protect it.
To date, the SUP’R Kids Bermuda program has gotten 50 kids out on the water. 90 percent of those kids have never been paddleboarding. 20 percent don’t know how to swim. The program is aimed a low income families that don’t have easy access to the water and that may not go to the shore much at all. Not only does the program provide an amazing and unique opportunity for these kids, but it grows Bermuda’s SUP industry from the inside out. Any one of the SUP’R Kids Bermuda participants could be winning the Devil’s Isle Challenge a decade down the road or starting their own watersports business. We hope that this experience on the water can drive not only a sense of adventure in the kids, but also a connection to the ocean not previously felt. Our emphasis on conservation and respect develops a sense of ownership in the island’s youth.
