Manan’s voyage from European Solidarity Corps (ESC) volunteering on a Croatian island to shipyard adventures is a testament to human exploration and resilience. Alongside two international comrades, they revived an old wooden boat, honing their skills and enduring harsh weather. Their travels took them across Croatia, and they shared their maritime tale with students in Zagreb. Manan’s story of the ‘Cilicia’ boat’s revival, tracing ancestral sea routes, resonates as a symbol of determination and the eternal quest for new
Hey you !… Do you think about crossing the oceans, finding the
treasures or being a pirate? ))
Well, you’d better start by working at the shipyard first and be ready to cross some miles for that.
Hi, it’s Manan, I did my ESC volunteering on a Croatian island, discovering wooden boats and the life of the shipyard. We were three volunteers from different places, working at the shipyard. We were on the boat and around ,doing some carpentry, making the boat one step closer to be ready for the sea. That was my first time working at such place and all tools were pretty new for me. Main idea was to work with modern and traditional tools. We got acquainted with the traditional tools that were used hundreds of years ago by ‘Kalafats’ , local masters who filled the fissures between boards.
The weather was changing pretty fast and we learned to work during strong winds and rains. It made us physically and mentally stronger. Each of us throughout the project managed to grow a lot as a person. After working inside the boat, scraping the old paint off it ,it was a pleaser to lay on the deck and look how the neighboring ship is launched into the open sea.
The travelling around the country and participating workshops by ESC was another story. In order to reach the destination, as Islanders , we had to take on the ferry first , then go by bus, then by train, then by someone’s car and we were there.
As a result, I already ,clearly know that Senj and Sinj are different places.))
We end our project in Zagreb’s international school, presenting our project and organizing some workshops for the students, teaching them handy skills for sailing. Then each of us told the maritime story from her/his country. Mine was the story of ‘Cilicia’ boat, which is a worthy story about dream, determination and courage. Armenian ship appeared on the open sea after hundreds of years, following the sea routes of our ancestors.
Cilicia found its permanent residence on the shore of Lake Sevan. Our small boat is still at the shipyard, waiting for its turn.
Getting closer to the main land is a happiness and I noticed how people aspire to the sea from the land and to the land from the sea.
That’s the human nature: Finding new horizons …
