Nachbericht der Teilnehmenden zum Segelprojekt 2023

Lets Sail together 2023  

From 8. to 23. of August we took part in international Erasmus+ project called We are all in the same boat, lets sail together 2023 organised by Kompass association. It was a youth exchange with participants from different countries: Türkiye, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and Austria. The project was split into two parts, first part was in Gantikow and the second part took place on the Baltic sea.  

During the first week, we focused on workshops which main theme was environmental awareness and to got to know each other before setting sail through the Baltic sea. In addition we had an excursion to the nearby city of Kyritz where we got acquainted with sustainable farming techniques and did some potato farming. We also got to know the value of a single potato by trading it into a whole dinner for 34 people. Besides of a lot of workshops, we had enough time to enjoy at a nearby lake, play very competitive volleyball and attend a local social gathering in the evening.  

Second part of the project started very early on Sunday. We left our accommodation and got the Rostock Harbour, after a very long and fun journey as a big and motivated group. There we were greeted by a very lovely and welcoming crew of Hendrika Bartelds and finally set sail to the cold waters of the Baltic Sea, our goal being to reach to Copenhagen. After our security and basic sailing briefings we learned how to, set the sails, trim the sails, steer the boat, geo-navigate, general and basic concept of sailing. The teambuilding workshops proved to be very useful during our various shifts including, galley watch, anchor watch, aft-deck watch and deck watch. It was amazing to reach Copenhagen on its own but we also managed to visit Malmö-Sweeden and to our luck, we came across to a festival there too. It was a night to be remembered. After we left the port of Malmö the gods of the seas stopped being kind with us… With very high winds and high waves, as some of us struggled to keep their stomachs at check, all of us were mesmerised by the actual concept of sailing in a very old school vessel, through the Baltic Sea, to our next stop which was the lovely island of Mön-Denmark. Our journey continued in sailing to the harbour of Warnemünde, where we spent our time on the beach having nice time in our last evening in this lovely adventure as we had to ran back to the boat because of a storm suddenly raging. In the morning after reaching to Rostock we made way back to Gantikow. Tired and exhausted but with a satisfied smile on our faces …  

After returning back to Gutshaus-Gantikow, feeling heavy since it meant the end of this dream-like project was coming to an end. We spent the last days evaluating our work and work of the organisation team, who did a phenomenal job, guiding us, planning ahead, confronting and solving problems, here and there without us even realising. We are lucky and grateful to had have them. In the last days we realised the friendships we formed had became a family only in a span of time of two weeks. It is quite heartbreaking to leave and go back to our day to day lives.  

After receiving our youthpasses with a lovely ceremony, we ended the project the next day with one crying and one happy eye. Realising once again, with love, passion, and a clear focus of preserving this wonderful environment for the next generations, we are all actually in the same boat.