SUMMER ON THE ISLAND OF ELBA: AN INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE FOR CHILDREN IN SEARCH OF WHALES AND DOLPHINS
An innovative proposal comes from Porto Azzurro, and a wonderful chance to learn through play how to become a crew of real sailors.
Summer…. the Island of Elba….. the sea…… children…. Here is the four-of-a-kind that ASD MARELIBERO is playing for the summer season 2015, with an original and hugely enjoyable initiative designed for all boys and girls aged 7 to 14: SUMMER SAILING CAMPS FOR CHILDREN.
All summer long, children and teenagers aged 7 to 14 can live a weekend or a week of great adventure in search of whales and dolphins, learning through play how to become a crew of real sailors.
It will be an intense week full of strong emotions in the wonderful waters of the Tuscan Archipelago, discovering a world so close to us yet still to be explored. The young crew will be involved in running every moment of the day, from preparing breakfast to lessons on sailing, environmental education, sharing life on board, socialising, independence and responsibility both personal and towards the marine ecosystem around us. Through the sporting spirit of sailing, the youngsters will not only get healthy physical exercise but will take part first-hand in cetacean sighting, data collection and snorkelling.
Activity on board, with direct involvement in cetacean monitoring and the sharing of biology and good-practice guidance, has proved an effective way of making the new generations understand the ecological importance of respecting the sea. The aim of the "great adventure" is to turn every young person into a young sailor, aware of and respectful towards the marine ecosystem. Thanks to the method used, children and teenagers learn while playing and having fun. Teamwork will help them develop mutual trust and team spirit. Every day each participant will keep a logbook that at the end of the voyage they will take home among their life experiences.
ASD MARELIBERO is a non-profit association whose main aim is to protect cetaceans in the Mediterranean and raise awareness of their presence through the sporting spirit of sailing, in order to bring people closer, raise awareness and encourage a more respectful and quieter attitude towards the sea and the protection of cetaceans, spreading a seafaring spirit that respects the marine environment: an unforgettable experience suitable for everyone, adults and children alike. Since 2012 this work has been combined with the monitoring of cetaceans and sea turtles thanks to active participation in important marine biology projects such as PROMETEOS 2013 and PROMETEOS 2014 with the University of Genoa, and the GoGREEN MARE 2014 project GoGREEN MARE 2014 .
The MARELIBERO team was born out of a love of the sea: and so Lucio, Simona and the NoProblem will make our children fall in love with nature and everything it has to offer.
Lucio, a deeply tanned 49-year-old skipper, is a sailing instructor and boat owner. Originally from Chioggia, he is fondly regarded as the "black sheep" of his family, in which everyone else is a shipwright. They had always built boats; he, on the other hand, wanted to sail them from an early age… and so he has been sailing the seas of the world for over 20 years.
Simona, a bright 38-year-old Elban, is an environmental educator specialising in cetaceans. She too comes from a family closely tied to the sea, as fishermen. She first went on board a boat at just 6 years old and, thanks to her "babbo" (as they say on Elba), fell in love with the sea and with the dolphins she saw in the waters around the island. So, after an escape in her youth that took her to the city in search of a perhaps more exciting life, she realised how much she missed the Island of Elba, its greenery and its blue sea, and came back to open ASD MARELIBERO together with Lucio.
The NoProblem, the last member of the team but certainly no less important, is a beautiful, solid sailing boat. An Oceanis 500, she is 16 metres long with 5 double cabins, 5 bathrooms, a galley with a three-burner hob and oven, fridge, heating, hot water, underwater cameras with a monitor for viewing below the surface, and a large dinette where the lessons in environmental education, sailing, meteorology and life on board take place. For a few days she will be the floating home of the new would-be explorers of the sea.
Scheduled departures: - week from 13 to 20 June - week from 27 June to 4 July - week from 18 to 25 July - week from 22 to 29 August - week from 29 August to 5 September. By taking part in Marelibero's activities you will help safeguard your planet's marine ecosystem!
Come aboard with us: it will be a chance for a different kind of holiday, full of emotion, immersed in the blue of the wonderful waters of the Pelagos Cetacean Sanctuary, the Tuscan Archipelago, Corsica and Sardinia, through the sporting spirit of sailing along the route of the cetaceans - unforgettable moments that will stay in your album of happy memories.
For information: ASD MARELIBERO
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