The project
The project offers a volunteer experience aboard a sailboat, using navigation as a powerful educational tool. Sailing promotes personal growth, self-discovery, respect for nature, and a deep connection with the sea. Life on board encourages cooperation, shared responsibility, mutual trust, and the development of social and relational skills through community living with defined roles and duties.
Activities alternate between time at sea and on land. Participants will carry out beach cleaning and maintenance, with special focus on plastic pollution.
Daily life on board will be organized through shared cooking and cleaning shifts. Food education will be addressed through intercultural recipe exchanges and the food pyramid, along with discussions on sustainability and food waste in partnership with the Food Bank of Tuscany.
Each day includes physical warm-up exercises and active involvement in sailing tasks (steering, sails, anchoring, knots, winds, and basic navigation). Work sessions will be balanced with leisure activities such as swimming, SUP, snorkeling, and walks.
OUTLINE ITINERARY:
Boarding in Naples (NA), during the week we will sail to the islands of Ischia, Capri and Procida with stops at: Nisida, Baia di San Montano and Maronti, Marina Piccola and Grotta Azzurra and Corricella, before returning to Naples. At each location, there will be time ashore for trekking, environmental and cultural activities. There will be no overnight stays in port.
WORK
The main activities during the camp are divided into:
Environmental education and land cleaning activities
• Spotting and collecting floating plastic in the sea
• Cleaning the beaches and the seabed (up to 4/5 meters in depth)
• Whale watching
• Snorkeling and recognizing marine life
• Identifying plants, herbs, and shrubs
Boat management
• Steering the boat
• First approaches to navigation techniques and boat nomenclature
• Introduction to meteorology, also in light of climate change
• On-board life shifts (cooking, setting/clearing the table, washing dishes, cleaning)
• Boat maintenance (small carpentry tasks)
The proposal originates from a collaboration between IBO Italia and the Social Promotion Association I Tetragonauti, which works with minors, young people in difficulty, and people with disabilities through educational activities based on the marine environment and sailing.
Accommodation & food
The boat: Lady Lauren, 22-meter sailboat, Scorpio 72 model, two masts, rigged Ketch, 240 hp engine, 5-meter dinghy with 25 hp outboard.
Accommodation: 5cabins (2 doubles, 2 bunk beds, 1 V-bed) with 4 bathrooms, boiler, a common room (dinette), three-burner galley, oven, refrigerators. On deck large cockpit and deck with equipment for sports activities.
-Food: breakfast, lunch and dinner prepared by the participant(s) in turn, with help from the educators. Predominance vegetarian meals. Fresh and local products when possible.
Breakfast: milk, tea, coffee, yogurt, bread and jam, cereal, cookies, honey, fruit
Lunch and dinner: cereal (pasta, rice, spelt, couscous), cooked or raw vegetables, protein (meat/sliced meat, legumes, eggs, fish, cheese), fruit.
Location & leisure
In the evening you can decide with the others if you want to play board games, look at the stars, go for a walk or tell each other stories.
Project host
IBO Italy is an NGO operating in Italy since 1957.
Their mission is to promote access to education and learning as fundamental rights and opportunities for the growth and well-being of the whole community, and to involve young people in volunteering and solidarity projects, to foster social commitment, participation and responsibility.
IBO's three main fields of intervention are:
International Cooperation: local development projects in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America (Peru, Ecuador, Tanzania, Ukraine, Romania), promoting an inclusive and equitable quality education.
STV, LMTV projects in Italy and abroad: workcamps, ESC, ESC Humanitarian Aid, Civil Service projects, especially involving young people, to make them an active and aware part of society. Mobility projects and inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities.
Global Citizenship Education and awareness raising activities for students and youngsters.
IBO Italy is a member of the European network “IBO Internationale” and CCIVS, and a member of the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organizations. It’s a partner of FOCSIV – Italian Federation of NGOs. Its headquarters is located in Ferrara.
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