This episode of the Blue Earth Podcast is a conversation with Andy McNab.

Andy’s youth was in New Zealand, by the ocean, where he frequently surfed and sailed.

In 1979, aboard a 36-foot lightweight trimaran, he and some friends departed New Zealand on a five-month sail to San Francisco. Along the way they saw miles of unattended long line buoys. Also, even then, as they sailed through the Southern Pacific Gyre, which is today also known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, there was a remarkable amount of marine debris.

Andy’s career is in boat building and yacht construction. He shares personal insights into how the industry’s mindset and practices are changing in order to reduce its environmental impact.

From biofouling to construction materials, underwater noise levels to plastic waste, and boat deconstruction and recycling, the yachting industry seems to finally be promoting a more sustainable “cradle-to-grave” mindset.

For more information check out futurefrogmen.org and look for @futurefrogmen on social media.