Always on
This project successfully funded on 18th February 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Save Flotilla4Change! Repair a broken heart + hull
Belém, Brazil
Aim
Help repair the hole in our boat! Then we can continue our project.
Flotilla4Change is a project to make sailing across oceans for travel and activism more accessible by offering sailing and activism training, whilst providing an online community platform for individuals, boats and captains so actions and green travel missions can run more smoothly.
This November, our first mission was to create a flotilla and sail within it from Europe to Brazil for COP30. We wanted to promote sustainable travel, provide a way for activists to attend a climate conference without flying and to platform voices from the global South at COP. We did these things, with great success!
The creators of this project sailed in Sababa, the boat in the above video. Sababa is our floating office, the hub of all our ideas, our vehicle for onward travel and our home for the next 5 months. Unfortunately, one night during COP30, the boat was hit by a drunk driver in a small cabin cruiser and now has a large hole in her bow, awaiting an expensive fix.
We are fundraising to fix the hole so we can continue our mission.
Let’s tell you a bit more about our project:
Flotilla4Change is a project to make sailing for travel and activism more accessible.
What’s your next journey? Wouldn’t it be nice if it aligned with your ideals?
We know that:
-Sailing is much better for the environment than plane travel
-The sailing experience shows people how cooperative society could be. It creates community through shared responsibility.
In pursuing this aim we work to include indigenous and marginalised people from the global South on our journeys so that those who are most affected by the effects of climate change are at decision making tables, their perspective leading climate action. More in this article here: Most Affected, Least Heard.
We will achieve this by:
-Connecting activists and collaborators to the captains and crew of sailing boats to support missions of environmental justice.
-Expanding and improving our network of boats, crew, activists and the environmentally conscious so that they can make sustainable journeys. Our next action will be to organise a flotilla to COP31 in Turkey.
- Developing our partnerships with Lekeh Development Foundation, La Via Campesina and others to create action, represent important causes and share knowledge and resources.
- Finishing our film that documents this first journey to COP30, to spread our message.
What we have done so far
Our aims for 2025 were:
1-To support the travel of a global South, Indigenous delegate to COP30, so that the perspective of those already experiencing the effects of our imbalanced global-society could be shared to influence decision makers. This was Melody Barry-Yobo of Ogoniland in Nigeria who lost her daughter to cancer caused by oil pollution from companies; Shell, Chevron, NNPC. Shell still drills for oil and gas in Nigeria despite its devastating effects.
Melody travelled on Sababa to COP30 to tell her story. This needs to keep happening.
2- Our second aim, to provide a sustainable transport opportunity, was met when we dramatically cut the emissions of 50 participants of COP30 by facilitating a flotilla of 4 sailing boats.
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During COP30
We sailed with a 200 strong flotilla of local and indigenous boats up the river Guajará.
(The banner says: Join the compassionate revolution)
We had wonderful guests from Medicinas Indigenous and the Yawanawa family during the ride.
Our event, Root Down, Raft Up: Stories, Solidarity and Samba!
(Pajé Nato Tupinambá, and translator Maryano Maya during ceremony)
We had an all female line up of speakers. This is where Melody and Jyoti Fernandes of La Via Campesina shared their incredible stories and motivations.
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During COP30 we were really excited to engage with other flotillas Yaku Mama Amazon Flotilla, MesoAmerican Caravan and Global Sumud Flotilla. We started having conversations in two days of meetings. We talked about our experiences and decided to collaborate on further missions.
We are so excited for our future with more friends to help us and more missions to support. Help us fix our hole!
We are asking for the sum of £10,000 for the repair of Sababa - our floating office and home - so that we can continue building this dream.
If you cannot donate, please share this widely. We will be most grateful. Love and hope X
Disclaimer: Small amounts of funding will contribute to the last minimal costs of our film that documents Melody and Jyoti Fernandes' journey and for the upkeep of our network. Estimated: £9000 to fix the hole and £1000 on other costs.
Update(31st Jan 2026): We have started the fix! Captain Underpants and crew have bought materials with your generous donations! Thank you so much!
Fibreglass et al is awaiting to be patched onto our broken hull. Heart mend pending!
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made