TRACC and Steve Oakley

Greetings fellow TRACC enthusiast (Traccoons) past, present and future.

We're reaching out to you now for a worthy cause, but also in remembrance of a truly great man.

Steve Oakley founded TRACC on Pompom Island in 2012 after seeing the severely damaged coral around the island, due to dynamited fishing. Ever since, he worked tirelessly, along side international and local staff and volunteers, to not only restore the reef, but to also raise awareness and educate people from around the world, about the issues facing the marine environment. For those who had the privilege of meeting Steve, you'll know that he's passion and drive was truly inspirational. His love for the marine environment was so contagious that he, as well as his creation TRACC, sparked and encouraged an obsession and deep love for the ocean and diving, that many of us might never have otherwise found. We believe for this we all owe a great debt of gratitude.

This leads us to what we would like to achieve in order to honour Steve's memory, as well as help TRACC - his legacy, thrive for the future. Which brings us to the infamous Wahoo.

As some of you may know Steve was diagnosed with cancer years ago. Regardless Steve was still completely dedicated to marine conservation even throughout his ongoing struggle with cancer, showing an unimaginable amount of strength and tenacity. His unwavering passion for conservation was only matched by his passion for boats.

In 2013 he built Wahoo whilst receiving chemotherapy treatment no less. Unfortunately whilst driving the completed boat back to Pompom a large storm hit, capsizing the boat, dropping all into the ocean. Steve and his co-driver Max luckily made it to land on the boat in tow, however Wahoo continued to float upside down drifting towards the Philippines. Fortunately it was found and towed back to Pompom where it sat idle for quite some time, with Steve working on the sea soaked inboard engine with any spare time he had. Many TRACC volunteers will have witnessed the amount of time and effort Steve put into trying to fix Wahoo, and how he refused to give up on it, even after having to start entirely from scratch after the capsizing. Unfortunately he never got the boat going before his unexpected passing.

Wahoo has been rebuilt entirely and is in pristine condition (as shown in the picture above). We now however face the challenge of providing the newly refurbished boat with nice new engines. This is where we need your help. We currently have a coporate sponsor, so for every dollar you contribute to Steve's memorial, the corporate sponsor will also contribute one dollar!

While of course the benefits of having a nice new, safe, smoothly running boat on Pom Pom are quite obvious, especially since Green Turtle is on it's last legs. Having Wahoo would mean that not only can TRACC continue our current work and projects with more ease, but it more importantly is a project of Steve's that we can finish for him. All we need is half the money thanks to our corporate sponsor!

We really hope to see Steve's last boat, in the water serving the conservation centre he dedicated his later years to. Let's get together in honour of Professor Steve Oakley, his amazing achievements as well as the awesome place he created and make this happen!

Steve Oakley's Octopus garden

Additionally TRACC is constructing an 'Octopus Garden' in memorial of Steve. This will be a large underwater structure to commemorate Steve and restore biodiversity to the reef. We hope you all come back to TRACC and see how this project develops and grows. Every single donation towards funding the engine for Steve's last boat will also fund one single coral to be planted on Steve's memorial.

For more information or to help us by volunteering. Please visit www.tracc.org