Expedition MEN AND THE SEA - Sailing to the ROOTS of INSPIRATION

    MUNICH, GERMANY, February 28, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- AN EXPEDITION TO THE ROOTS OF INSPIRATION

The Global Offshore Sailing Team will head to Cuban waters to explore what it has meant for so many who landed here from the times when the "New world" was discovered to the latest moments in history. The blue sea around Cuba, its green landscape and the unique passion of the Cuban People - nevertheless where they live - inspired so many over centuries.

Expedition MEN AND THE SEA (www.MenAndTheSea.com) is an homage to them. It is an initiative of remembrance and a platform of intercultural and interdisciplinary exchange for women and men such as Historians, Literature Enthusiasts, Sailors, NGO's, Associations or people passionate for Cuba and its rich history.

The name of the Expedition is clearly inspired by the novel of Noble prizewinner Ernest Hemingway "The old man and the sea". The sea inspired him as well as it inspired us and we are grateful for the many masterpieces he left to us.

MESSAGE FROM THE EXPEDITION's PATRON JOHN PATRICK HEMINGWAY

"I believe that what you are doing with your group, Man and the Sea, is something that my grandfather would have been very pleased to see. To commemorate those who died in the battles off the coast of Cuba is a noble gesture of reconciliation and remembrance. Ernest Hemingway as an artist and as a fisherman was fascinated by the Gulf Stream and by the men who lived their lives on both sides of the Florida Straits. I wish that I could be there when you deliver the Montegrappa Hemingway Pen to the Finca Vigia, but I see you all as representatives of my grandfather and what he believed in and loved about the Cuban people and their history. Therefore, the Pen is in very good hands!"

The Global Offshore Sailing Team (www.GOST.org) believes that it is important to visit the places where history happened, to not only to understand history better, but also to remember the events that influenced the world in which we live in today.

The goal of GOST's expeditions is always to try to get a sense of the background and the struggles of the events happened at sea. By sailing to these places - nevertheless if they are at the pack ice border or in the Caribbean - we hope to remember and honor all the brave women and men, whose life was connected with the sea and the explored events. The patron of GOST's last expedition "Arctic Ocean Raptor" (www.ArcticOceanRaptor.com), Admiral The Lord Boyce KG, GCB, OBE, DL, has perfectly expressed our notion to consolidate the international cooperation on the level of the civil society: Maybe it is one of the first times where such an initiative surpasses any national thinking. It starts at the heart of what all these men and women we remember have been - sailors. Comradeship on sea goes far beyond any border. It is about respect, honor, and duty.

Expedition MEN AND THE SEA will take place from the 4th to the 11th of March 2017. The Expedition Corps will depart from Cienfuegos heading South on a 45ft Catamaran into the blue Caribbean sea. The program during the week includes: A remembrance service on sea; An official remembrance service at the WWII monument in Havana; An official visit of the Naval Museum Cienfuegos; A reception at the Italian Embassy; An official meeting at the Hemingway museum in Havana,; Navigating and offshore sailing in Cuban waters.

WHERE TO MEET THE EXPEDITION TEAM?
5 March 2017: Marina Cienfuegos
5 March 2017: Naval Museum Cienfuegos
10 March 2017 - 15.30 o'clock: Italian Embassy to Cuba, Miramar
11 March 2017: Naval Monument Havana
11 March 2017 - 14.00 o'clock: Hemingway Museum
For information on other meeting possibilities, please contact Mr. Werne.

EXPEDITION TEAM
Patron: JOHN P. HEMINGWAY
Expedition Leader: JOCHEN WERNE
The Expedition will be realized by:
The GLOBAL OFFSHORE SAILING TEAM,
The ASOCIACION PARA LA INVESTIGACION Y DIFUSION DE LA HISTORIA NAVAL DE CUBA,
The INTERNATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM HAMBURG,
IL MUSEO HEMINGWAY E DELLA GRANDE GUERRA BASSANO DEL GRAPPA,
The GERMAN SOCIETY FOR MARITIME AND NAVAL HISTORY,
The ROYAL CINQUE PORTS YACHT CLUB DOVER
The MONTEGRAPPA Corporation &
The MUNZ Corporation

GLOBAL OFFSHORE SAILING TEAM

The internationally awarded Global Offshore Sailing Team, is a group of dedicated amateur sailors comprised of members from all over the world including e.g. Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, Serbia, Greece, France and the United States.

The Global Offshore Sailing Team which navigates on oceans worldwide and in which many teammates have naval backgrounds, have made it a priority to keep naval traditions alive and to use expeditions as historic research platforms. Expeditions on all oceans of this world and challenges like sailing till reaching the pack ice border on 81 degree N made the Global Offshore Sailing Team not only well known in the maritime hemisphere but also as a neutral international people's diplomacy platform.

The team believes it is important to visit the places where history happened, to not only to understand history better but to remember the events that influenced the world we live in today. By doing so, the Team wants to remember all the brave seamen who served their countries in time of conflict. As our dear friend Peter Nixon, Chairman of the Channel Dash Association, perfectly summarized:

" ... working so hard to bring history back to everyone's attention and recognizing the many great acts of courage performed on our behalf by men and women of all sides during a period of conflict. ... It is not about Winner's or Loser's. ... the world is a wonderful place to live because it is made up of many different, but beautiful countries.... We should be proud of this fact. Equally, we should not be ashamed of our past, nor should we glorify it, for it was our past which created what we are today."

Today the Team holds contacts to the Royal Houses of Belgium, Great Britain and Norway as well as high-level contacts to the Governments of Canada, Germany, Great Britain and Italy.

CONTACT

EXPEDITION MEN AND THE SEA
c/o Jochen Werne - Expedition Leader;
Ambergerstrasse 20; 81679 Munich; Germany
Mobile & WhatsApp: + 49 163 701 7201
Mail: [email protected]
Web: www.MenAndTheSea.com
Twitter: @MenAndTheSea

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