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29.07.2019, Close to baptism and launch

The work on our reed boat is entering the hot phase. After putting down basket huts and mast, the last but countless knots and detail constructions are now to be made to make the sailfloss fit for the first test sail. For this we work until late in the evening, because the experiences of past expeditions teach us that this phase is the most complex and mostly stressful. On Thursday the 1st of August 19 at 14.30 o'clock then the solemn act of the ship baptism in Beloslav is to take place.

Nevertheless, we are making good progress, especially since the interest of the population and also of the future expedition countries is growing. For two weeks we have been in contact with the authorities in Turkey, where we are working both in Istanbul and Çanakkale on our arrival. Furthermore, I am already preparing for our arrival in Cyprus, where we are in regular contact with the relevant partners and the Maritime Museum Aiga Napa.

Almost all of the maritime signs are greened and we can set our mainsail in the wake of the Argonauts in about two weeks. Above all, the purpose of the expedition is to reconcile new archaeological finds in the north and east of the Black Sea with oceanographic events. The sea voyage can thus verify in practice the ancient traditions of Herodotus, Strabo and Aeschylus as to whether the ancient Egyptians were indeed able to travel these trade routes. The ride on the new ABORA IV is anything but a breeze through the Bosphorus and into the windy Aegean Sea. On Thursday, August 1, 2019, the reed boat will be handed over to its element. Then it will be shown how well we have built our research vessel during the last two months.