Cast off! - FAQ

Age: 18–45 years

The age range provided is intended to help bring people in similar life situations together.

Common underlying disease

Basically, our offer is aimed at all people who are struggling with a serious illness. In order to enable a more meaningful and enriching exchange between the participants, we initially only want to take people with similar underlying illnesses on board.

Before or after therapy or medical clearance certificate

In principle, there is no right or wrong time to be involved. However, we cannot offer or continue specific therapies on board and can only treat therapy complications that arise to a very limited extent. Therefore, a certain time interval from therapy (depending on the type of therapy) can definitely make sense. If you are currently still undergoing therapy or have completed your therapy less than three months ago, we'd ask you to discuss your participation with your doctors and have a clearance certificate issued to you. Feel free to send us a message if you have any questions.

Normal physical fitness

Everyday life on board can sometimes be strenuous. A sailing trip does not place any special demands on your fitness. Nevertheless, you should, for example, be able to keep your balance when there's a bit of swell or to climb down the steep stairs into the saloon. After all, a sailing boat is not designed for the greatest comfort, but rather should use the power of the wind to get us to our destination as flexibly as possible.

Scholarship for your contribution to the trip costs

Your participation should not fail because of the trip costs. If your financial situation makes it impossible for you to contribute the amount of €280, we can arrange to cover part or even all of it as part of a scholarship. If you are dependent of this support, write to us using the contact form (below) and mentioning in the text field that you need a scholarship. The scholarship should be awarded without unnecessary hurdles and as unbureaucratically as possible. Please note, however, that we are a small association and only have limited resources.

On-board cash register

All participants pay equally into the on-board cash register. All costs incurred during the trip for meals on board and other joint activities are covered from this cash register. Unless otherwise stated, port fees and fuel are already included in the costs of the trip and do not need to be taken into account here.
For one week you should budget around €150.

Meals on board - preparations

Before we go out on the water, we first have to make sure we have provisions. For this purpose, the crew’s preferences are asked in advance. This means that vegetarian or vegan diets can be taken into account. On the first day, part of the crew goes “bunkering”, which is the seafaring term for “doing a lot of shopping”. The supplies must then be distributed to the various stowage areas in the ship – including to more remote places on the boat.

Daily adjustment of the itinerary

Even the best forecast does not bring certainty and so every day can become an exercise in acceptance when the sheltered bay or harbour cannot be left due to stormy conditions. However, this is the exception - usually there is a course that allows us to unpack the sails and continue our route. And if not, our sailboat of course also has a propulsion engine so that we can continue driving under motor.

Meals on board - cooking facilities

The stove and oven on our ship are suspended freely and are therefore ready for use at any time. Therefore, in principle we could even cook while we were sailing, although it would of course be a little more relaxed in a quiet bay. Additionally, our ship also has a refrigerator and a sink, just like in a normal kitchen.