2024: A Year in Review

Dec 16

What a year.

While 2023 was big – with the Fleet getting back to pre-pandemic levels of activity and momentum – 2024 was truly transformative. This year, we welcomed more new members, held more events, and trained more folks than ever before.

A big focus in 2024 was laying a strong foundation that we can reliably build on for years to come. We’ve strengthened our internal structure: creating 5 distinct working groups, refining our processes for bringing in new folks, and introducing new standards for kayak trainers. The Kayak Lending Library got bigger and busier, and we made some improvements to our office at Green Anchors to accommodate more gear (and more people!). And of course, we took to the water to advocate for an end to the extractive economy that is destroying our planet, brutalizing frontline communities, and burning our collective future.

Here are some of the big highlights from 2024:

We expanded our collection of available gear at the Kayak Lending Library, purchasing 6 new kayaks, 10 new paddles, 30 new personal flotation devices, and 10 new spray skirts.
Thanks in large part to El’s leadership, we introduced art builds this year; we hosted 3 art builds in 2024, with more planned for 2025.
We also introduced volunteer orientation events; we held a total of 12 orientations.
255 folks attended at least one Fleet event (social paddle, workshop/skill-share), compared to 140 in 2023. Some of the events we hosted included the annual Juneteenth Paddle, Birding Paddle with Birdhers, Halloween Cleanup on the Slough with Columbia Slough Watershed Council, and everyone’s favorite: Sunset paddles!
48 folks attended a Fleet kayak training (compared to 39 in 2023), including our first Self & Assisted Rescue trainings.
We held 4 public Kayak Lending Library orientations and gained 37 new Library users, up from 30 new members in 2023, for a total of about 60 members.
We hosted a total of 14 on-land events, compared to 11 in 2023. These included 4 disaster preparedness workshops (co-hosted by Healing Underground (HUG), a BIPOC youth-led abolitionist, art, and healing justice collective) and 3 beach cleanups on the Willamette River.
7 members of the Fleet and 2 members of our sister kayaktivist groups, the Rich City Rays and River Access Paddle Program, got together to earn certification from the American Canoe Association as Sea Kayak Instructors.

The Fleet organized our people and gear for a total of 3 on-water actions in support of regional climate justice campaigns and priorities:

We joined our sister fleet, the Rich City Rays of Richmond, CA, for an on-water mobilization as part of the 10th Annual Anti-Chevron Day in May.
In June, the Fleet led an on-water banner raise in coordination with activists who dropped a banner from Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, OR as part of End Fleet Week, a 3-day series of workshops and rallies to counter the violent militarism and waste of Portland’s Fleet Week.
In September, Fleet kayaks paddled out to raise a banner and welcome Veterans for Peace’s sailboat The Golden Rule, calling attention to the links between militarism and climate injustice.

And finally, Kelsey, El, and the rest of the team worked hard this year on developing a more rigorous, robust internal structure for the Fleet. We have established 5 working groups:

Kayak Training Team: A crew of experienced paddlers that help folks build skills and confidence on the water. This team is exclusively made up of BIPOC, queer, and/or femme individuals, and members must be wet exit and first aid/CPR certified;
Social Paddle Team: Folks who lead social paddle events and act as safety paddlers during group paddles and on-water actions; must be wet exit and first aid/CPR certified;
Art Team: Folks that host open art studio hours at our HQ, art workshops, and art builds;
Outreach Team: Folks who help spread the word about the Fleet and help develop relationships with other local orgs;
Action Team: Folks interested in on-water strategic actions and mobilizations.

Our world looks different than it did when the Fleet first took to the water in 2015; the impacts of climate change are undeniably at our doorstep and authoritarianism is threatening our communities at a level that makes us grieve for what we’ve lost while dreaming of new creative ways to fight back to build the world we all deserve. We spent a lot of time this year getting real about a big question: what does it look like to take meaningful action for climate justice in 2025 and beyond?

In September, these conversations became even more real as we watched kayakers deliver supplies and conduct search-and-rescue operations after Hurricane Helene wiped out bridges and roads in western North Carolina. Climate change is no longer a potential crisis to be averted: it is here. Where does an organization like Mosquito Fleet – a “kayaktivist” crew that got its start taking direct on-water action against Shell Oil’s Arctic drilling rig – fit into these new paradigms?

Out of these conversations came a new motto to guide our work in the coming years: “On-Water Resistance and Resilience.” Expanding beyond our original scope of on-water direct action, we have a vision of resource and skill-sharing with our communities to contend with the impacts of climate change that we are already experiencing. We want to equip our team and our communities with the skills and tools they need to respond to events like floods or widespread power outages, and build strong local networks so we can be prepared to take care of each other in times of chaos and confusion.

Mosquito Fleet is going into this year – which will mark our tenth anniversary! – with an expanded core crew (bios and photos coming to the site soon), new trainings and programs, and new pathways for folks who want to engage more deeply with the Fleet and what we do. We’ll be in touch in early 2025 to share details about our plans, what’s changing and what’s remaining the same, and how you can help.

See you in the new year!

Thank you to our amazing funders!

Grants and other financial support from these generous funders and partners were critical to our work in 2024.

Ben & Jerry’s Foundation — National Grassroots Organizing Grant

Lush Charity Pot

Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission

Oregon Parks Foundation Fund of Oregon Community Foundation

Other 98% Lab

Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund

Rainforest Action Network

Seeding Justice — General Fund Grant

Seeding Justice — Anonymous Donor