As Morski/Jurica Gaspar writes on the 6th of January, 2020, as he announced just before the feast of the patron saint of sailors St. Nikola, Sibenik ophthalmologist Drazen Grgic is re-attempting to cross the Atlantic from Sibenik to Brazil in a boat.
The project, which he called “Clean sea, clean heart,” (Croatian: Čisto more, čisto srce) is aimed at raising public awareness of the problem of plastic pollution in the the world’s seas and oceans. This time, however, he is not sailing the high seas alone.
“The day of our departure has arrived, today at 12:00 Branimir and I are setting off with the bura which they say cleans everything. This time, Clean sea, clean heart, which has an ecological character, is aimed at raising public awareness to the problem of marine pollution, the project also has a humanitarian mission to help SOS Children’s Village Croatia by raising funds by calling the SOS Children’s Village Croatia charity telephone 060 9055. Donate for children without adequate parental care and safeguard our sea,” wrote Grgic.
You can follow Drazen Grgic’s journey in real time by clicking here.
”Today we set sail for the Feast of the Holy Three Kings from Sibenik at exactly 12:00. The route is the Adriatic, the Ionian sea through the Strait of Messina to the Tyrrhenian towards Sardinia and along the Balearics and the coast of Spain down to Gibraltar. There, we will probably have to wait for more favourable winds for the Canary Islands and then further south to Cape Verde and as the final destination for the Fernando de Noronha Islands in Brazil. For our return, we’ll go to the Azores, then to Gibraltar and we’ll be back in Sibenik somewhere around Easter,” he told Morski.
”The two of us are sailing on a 33-foot vessel – Sveti Mihovi Sibenik, the crew is made up of just Branimir Vlajo and I. The two of us have more than 100 years of sailing experience combined,” he added.
Whether or not he thinks he’ll manage to succeed in his plan this time and see the project through to the end, as well as how preparations went, he stated:
”My serious preparation were in fact in the solo sailing of 2000 Nm Meditera 2018 when I embarked on my first attempt to cross the ocean but due to lack of time I stopped and returned from Sardinia. We believe we’ll succeed. We now have a lot more time and a lot of new adjustments that will make sailing easier. We’ll return of course in the same way, by sailing back to Sibenik. If God so allows,” concluded Dr. Drazen Grgic.
Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more on Drazen Grgic’s Atlantic voyage.
