Tocorime Foundation

What do you do when you´re in love with traditional wooden sail boats but don´t have the big bugs to buy one? And what if you still don´t have enough after 6 years of savings? You find a place where you can build it! We found a little beach on the Amazone river, Brazil; 1400 km up the river: Santarem, Pará. We never had build a boat before, didn´t speak the lingo, never had enough money to build it and no visa. Capt David, a local American told us:"you must be crazy when you want to build your boat here - but if youre crazy enough, you will succeed". Yes, our No-budget adventure would be a crazy one: 36 m long, 2 x 38 m high masts, 150 ton heavy, 40 tons of ballast built by your own hand & with only the traditional hand tools. 6 years we were crazy enough in the tropical heat. 6 years it took us to launch her in ´99 and set the sails for the maiden voyage in - and how did she sail! And what a beauty she became: Oh Gloria! Just in time for the Brazil 500 year celebrations, we arrived in Rio - wonderfull time with so many people enjoyed her. Her sailing, her social outings, her educational projects onboard. Fantástic times! But. but. but. a story always has a "but". For 4 years the Tocorimé layed still on her anchor, doing noting. Equipment stolen, moisted sails, rotten systems and the termites had a party for 4 years: we even broke the masts. In 2016 naval architect Olivier van Meer was called for a technical evaluation:"never seen such a strong hull but the rest is to scrap". So what you do? We spit in the hands again and go! And, we have to start from scrap: why not start good? We go 100% Green and create a showcase onboard. Show, Celebrate & Inspire - the 4 year worldtour "Sailing for the Better" was founded! At the moment we´re busy finding sponsoring and media for the 4 main events: 2022 Brazil 200 yrs, 2025 Sail A´dam, 2025 City Amsterdam 750 years and 2026 USA 250 yrs! Drop a line: kit@tocorime.org /+55-21-99143.7679