Ragazzinvela is an educational nautical project dedicated to children and teenagers from the age of eight, characterized by sports cruises on sailing boats, a social experience that enhances the talents and characteristics of each one through coexistence on board, sailing and sport.One Ocean Foundation has decided to support and enrich this initiative by providing information materials on sustainability at sea and involving marine biologists that, through interactive workshops, introduce young sailors to underwater life, underlining the importance of its protection.

Sunday, July 4th, 2021

Wake up at 07:40 with classical music, tidy the bunks and breakfast: milk, green tea, apples, muesli, slices of tumbled bread with strawberry or apricot compote, or with ricotta.

At 9 AM Massimo Campadese, Arianna Liconti and Emanuele joined us by gozzo. Arianna is the marine biology of One Ocean Foundation, who instructs children about safeguarding the sea and about introduces them to the sea water analysis project.

Therefore, we became a “scientific expedition”! This is thanks to the precious support of the One Ocean Foundation, which has provided us with many books and materials. Among these, a precious tool for the research of microplastics in the sea: a net – made for us – for plankton sampling; it is a scaled down version of the large screens used by oceanographic research vessels.

The screen has the shape of a narrow cone more than one meter long, built with filter material. It is a beautiful, accurate object. At first, Max and Emanuele helped us to collect plankton: they spinned a ten-meter-long net aft of the gozzo and kept it immersed in the water for twenty minutes, sailing at about two knots of speed. We collected the concentrated material in the terminal and analyzed it with the microscope to recognize its composition. It was fascinating to see the life that exists in a tiny drop of water!

Girls and boys listened, observed and participated with great attention. Arianna, after the experience together, writes to us: “Of what we have seen, I would add the wonder in the eyes of the little ones in discovering the basis of life in the sea, which is hidden in the blue, and the great preparation and education they have shown! Now it’s up to them to become ground ambassadors of all the wonder they have seen and will observe in this fantastic experience. “

For the initiative, Ragazzinvela would like to give special thanks to Sciake Bonadeo and the One Ocean Foundation team, who made the day possible and unforgettable.