Our ocean is in trouble. This amazing resource that provides us with food, recreation, respite, and the air we breathe, also plays a major part in regulating weather. Its ability to do that, as well as to sustain the many life-forms depending on it, including us, become compromised with the increasing rise in its temperatures, the melting of polar sea ice, and the acidification of its waters.

So with all this going wrong in our oceans and planet, does no one know or does no one care? This is why I am partnering with NRDC to paddle my outrigger canoe 1200 miles around Florida and west to New Orleans, starting tomorrow. For those who do not know, I paddle to inform and for those who don’t care, I paddle to inspire. I plan to document my journey on this blog for the next three weeks, and you can read more about it and see photos here.

I'm not a professional paddler, but a mom of two kids. So yes, I’m a mother who is away from her children while I am “at sea”, by my own volition. And this is the best lesson which can be imparted by a mother. Why merely just think about changing the world when you can take action to create momentum to influence its destiny? I also hope to demonstrate how one person can make a difference for my children and all of our children, as they are the future leaders of our world.

Paddling through coastal communities is sufficiently unusual to be a newsworthy event. While coastal areas occupy only about 10% of the land area of our country, nearly 50% of our population either lives or works in coastal communities. So hitting the media markets along 3,500 miles of it just might not be such a crazy idea after all. Perhaps more importantly, my message is also making its way to the elected officials and policymakers who represent them.

It's time for a Healthy Oceans Act That is the message we need to send to our representatives in Congress. If I can paddle the coastlines of our nation to help save our seas, you can surely tell your Congressman to support healthy oceans legislation.

My mission does not escape my mind as I prepare myself for tomorrow's paddle. The wind whips the trees into a threatening frenzy, the surf gets increasingly crazy and intense, and I wonder how long tomorrow's paddle will take in these increasingly rough conditions, even if it is the safer, inland route. My host, Marjorie Rickard, who graciously hosted me two years ago when I paddled 2000 miles in the other direction, to Maine, does not remember the weather being like this all winter. In my mind, the ocean is mad, mad at what we are doing to it, mad at our "business as usual" mentality, mad that we take it for granted.

I'm doing this because the best way we can insure the health and viability of our ocean for future generations is to impress upon Congress and our new Administration that we must act now to protect this most amazing and diverse resource. We must do more as individuals, too, to safeguard against further degradations of our ocean and coastal areas. A healthy ocean is the best legacy we can leave our children. It is a good as, if not better than, money in the bank.