Dispatches from the Field, a new digital program designed to bring The Explorers Club community closer—wherever you are.
Each session kicks off with a 15-20-minute talk from a Featured Speaker, recorded and posted later to the public on explorers.org and our YouTube channel.
This will be followed by Campfire sessions—intimate, Members-Only breakout groups where you can connect, share ideas, and build relationships.
This edition features Ali Abdalla Skanda, EC50 2026, to present “Monsoon Rising: How Traditional Boat Building is Revolutionizing Ocean Plastic Solutions”
For centuries, the Indian Ocean connected Lamu to the rest of the world. The shared heritage between Lamu and the Middle East was enabled by dhows. They brought trade, culture, and language. Today, the ocean still connects us — but now through a shared crisis: plastic pollution. To combat this, Ali and his team combined ancestral craftsmanship with modern necessity to engineer the world’s first sailing dhow made entirely from recycled ocean plastic.
This talk shares the journey from the 2014 Smithsonian Festival where he demonstrated traditional restoration techniques, to constructing the Flipflopi and commanding three major expeditions across East African waters, ultimately earning recognition as a Kenyan national hero. He’ll reveal how traditional maritime knowledge isn’t just cultural heritage—it’s an untapped solution to one of our most pressing environmental crises.
Members only – click here to register.
Ali Skanda
Ali Skanda, an Explorers Club EC50 2026 honoree, is a master dhow builder from Lamu, Kenya, representing eight generations of traditional boat-building expertise dating to the 1300s. In 2014, he demonstrated his craftsmanship at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, restoring a traditional dhow on the National Mall. In 2016, he co-founded The Flipflopi Project and engineered the world’s first sailing dhow from recycled ocean plastic, earning recognition as a Kenyan national hero on Mashujaa Day by President Uhuru Kenyatta. As expedition captain, Ali has led three major voyages across the Indian Ocean and Lake Victoria, training hundreds of apprentices and proving that ancestral wisdom provides innovative solutions to modern environmental challenges.
