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MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Following in the tradition of Da Gama and Dias, another European exploration vessel has made its way to Mossel Bay.
The largest sailboat under the Swiss flag, Fleur de Passion, has paid a visit to the town during the third year of its inspiring four-year journey around the world.
This Ocean Mapping Expedition is taking place five hundred years after the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer who followed the same course from Seville, Spain, in search of a Western sea route to the Spice Islands.
The Pacifique Foundation – a non-profit organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland – funds the Ocean Mapping Expedition that began in April 2015.
The expedition’s goal is to map the current state of the oceans and to measure the impact of human activity.
The French-speaking crew is involved in four scientific endeavours in co-operation with various academic institutions from around the world, including research on micro-plastic and noise pollution, coral bleaching and greenhouse gases on the ocean’s surface.
Along with raising awareness on these environmental issues, the Fleur de Passion also runs a socio-educational programme in which troubled teenagers and young adults from Geneva are taken on board as crew members for a time, where they learn about life at sea and experience a journey of self-discovery. This lays the foundation for personal development and a brighter future.
Four South African teenagers also joined the crew as temporary ship’s apprentices for the stretch between Knysna and Mossel Bay, as the winners of a competition hosted by Cape Nature.
Cartoonists and artists from different parts of the world, including South African Anton Kannemeyer (a.k.a. Joe Dog), have been taking turns onboard to document the sailboat’s expedition with sketches. Members of the public can also board the boat as temporary crew members.
Fleur de Passion initially served as a German navy boat in 1941 and was rebuilt from 2003 to 2009 to become a ketch with its unique mission of scientific, socio-educational and cultural development.
The arrival of the Fleur de Passion at the Mossel Bay harbour serves as a reminder of previous explorers who have anchored in the same waters, the best-known being Vasco da Gama and Bartholomew Dias. The adventurous crew of The Ocean Mapping Expedition did their own exploring of the coastal town and hiked the entire Cape St. Blaize trail during their time in the Bay.
According to Pietro Godenzi, the skipper and a founding member of the Pacifique Foundation, Fleur de Passion will be setting sail for Cape Town as soon as the South-Easterly wind picks up and allows him to sail South, following the famous footsteps that have gone before him.
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