After a number of years of rebuilding the ship in its cocoon in Rosés, Spain, the Heraclitus has at last a new hull! The R/V Heraclitus is one of a handful of larger sailing vessels in the world with a ferrocement hull. 84 feet in length, the new hull of the ship weighs about 60 tons!
Since 2012, hundreds of volunteers from around the world have come to help rebuild the ship. The hull has been fully reconstructed, all the way down to the keel. Next steps are to seal the hull and put the ship back in the water. We have raised considerable funding to get the ship in this shape and our gratitude goes out to all those individuals and institutions that have supported this work over the years.
Once back on the sea, the Heraclitus will journey to Colombia continue explore the world, visit coastal and forest cultures in the region. We are currently developing programs to document traditional ecological and cultural knowledge. We will also use state-of-the-art data collection systems to help assess ecological health, participate in citizen science and develop educational programs.
Ongoing work the Heraclitus will be conducting includes documenting cultural oral history and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in coastal areas, conducts citizen science in marine ecologies, and collects data and stories documenting the quickening cycle of decline in our oceans from warming, acidification, pollution and other impacts on the ocean ecosystems.
We need $175,000 to seal the ship and get back to sea. Thank you for considering making a tax deductible donation to the Institute earmarked for the Heraclitus Rebuild.
With thanks to our Sponsors
