Whydah, the new sailing vessel of the German Youth Movement

Dear friends of sailing, boy scouts, girl scouts, members of the youth movement,
dear friends, relatives, supporters and interested people!

We need a new ship and therefore, your help!

For 45 years, many generations of children and youths sailed the oceans on the brigantine Falado von Rhodos. With and on her, they discovered Swedish fjords and Caribbean islands, experienced storms and calms, steered sedulously through rain and sang songs sitting in her crow's nest. They jumped from the highest yard arm and dove under her, they lived on and with the Falado and she grew on them.

The Falado provided all groups of the youth movement* from Germany and beyond with the possibility for adventures and sailing of the seas. Over the years, thousands of young people became sailors, lived within nature, made friends for life and lived to see unrivalled adventures – all the while remaining self-determined and in their own responsibility.

As many of you know, our precious Falado sank on the 9th of August last year off the Icelandic coast. Thereupon, a phrase was released to the Falado homepage which expresses and emphasises what the Falado meant to many: “To us, she is more than a navigable vehicle, carrying us from one place to another. She is a being, which over time developed a soul.”

All these incomparable adventures are not to become lost and fade to mere memories. The generations of children and youths to come need to gain their own experience. Therefore, the members of the groups in the Falado association have decided to buy a new ship: the English schooner Whydah of Bristol.

The Whydah of Bristol was built in 2000 as a gaff schooner with a steel hull, wooden deck and two wooden masts. Her first viewing already had the hearts of Falado sailors beating faster. She's a ship that awakens the yearning for wind and waves even when lying in port.
People of different groups connected to the Falado committed time and effort to a thourough search for a new ship. Among those ships considered to be in accordance with our objective criteria such as length and on-board safety, the Whydah immediately and even without alterations stuck out as the one ship already very close to our idea of a youth ship – inviting in for adventures and yarn.

To set sail again, we need about 160.000 €. So far, we have accumulated about three-fourths of that amount in donations and loans from friends and supporters of the Falado and we go on collecting across all channels concurrently.

Dear water rats, scouts and friends! Everyone who sailed and loved the Falado, who want to support us in pursuing our dream, who want to roam the oceans with us or who simply believe it is important and great that youths receive this opportunity, please help us!
So that in the end we will be able to say: This ship belongs to all of us.

We count on your support.

On behalf of the Falado Crowdfunding Team
All the best, a good trip always and ever six inches of water under your keel

Our goal is a new vessel for new generations of scouts and young people.

With your contribution you enable young people experience what today they might not even dream about. Countless songs, stories, pictures and tales that originate from the old Falado prove this.

With your support, we can raise the Whydah as the new platform of the youth movement. The larger the amount, the faster we can not only and finally buy the ship and pay back the loans, but also make those alterations needed to turn the ship even safer and more comfortable.

Apart from monetary donations, we also greatly welcome loans and donations in kind. For example, we still require a radar and chart plotter, lifejackets and lifebelts, davits to carry the dinghy, an affordable spot in a harbour in German waters and so on. If you can help there, please feel free to contact us directly!