Voyage 4 / Week 41
– The Hamburg Arrival!

Concluding Voyage 4, the AVONTUUR returned to Germany with a full cargo hold of the finest sailed goods. Captain Joachim and crew arrived to an enthusiastic crowd at the Hamburg Hafenmuseum.

Voyage 4 began on October 11th, 2018 from Elsfleth on our first cargo mission to load AVONTUUR Bio Merlot wine barrels in the Bordeaux region. Since then we have covered 18,460 Nautical Miles, loaded various cargoes on three continents, and most importantly spread the idea for a clean and responsible shipping culture.

More than 200 volunteers helped the crew to unload the AVONTUUR with many more guests in attendance. A great symbol for clean sea transport as the spirited atmosphere provided the energy required to offload the cargoes by hand.

The coffee bags were the first to arrive on land followed by the cocoa beans from Belize. All were lifted from the AVONTUUR cargo hold onto the floating pontoon using traditional methods and equipment like purchase, tackle, and derrick hoisted onto shore than further lifted onto the quay. Nearly 30 cargo bikes transported the sacks to the customs storage facility nearby. Furthermore, a school class from Bamberg loaded coffee onto their cargo bikes for even further transport. These young climate activists cycled their coffeeto their Waldorf school in southern Germany!

Catering was provided to the volunteers throughout the day which ended in a free concert series for all to enjoy.  A big THANK YOU to our amazing cargo partners and to the Hamburg Hafenmuseum with whom we worked for months on the lead up to making this day so memorable.  HERE’s a photo gallery from Felix Flabe.

A week later, the AVONTUUR arrived in Elsfleth where our AVONTUUR Rum, Korn, wine, honey, and sea salt was finally unloaded.  This completed Voyage 4, a challenging journey filled with many highlights but also difficulties that we will no doubt overcome. More to this point further in this Newsletter.

Photo from Verena Brüning

Voyage 5 – Postponed

In the summer of 2016, we began Voyage 1 when we transported 20 tons of coffee for Slokoffie from Central America to Germany. Since that journey, we have been able to increase the amount of cargo on our home trips to the full capacity of our cargo space.

Nevertheless, even with Voyage 4, we were unable to cover the costs of the journey with freight and shipmate incomes. In order to cover the costs for the next trip, we will need more time for planning and preparation. Starting in spring 2020, the AVONTUUR will embark on a cargo voyage via Madeira and the Azores returning to Germany for various tall ship festivals (Schedule to come). Come autumn 2020, again we will sail on the familiar cargo route towards the Caribbean and Central America.

The new timetable for our anniversary trip – AVONTUUR will be 100 years old in 2020 – will be determined in the weeks ahead.

This was not an easy decision for us to take but necessary to continue to be able to offer our Cargo Under Sail service to promote a clean shipping future. For the next voyages, we will further optimize the ship to sail even more efficiently and strengthen our cargo acquisition in order to be able to transport cargo and take in freight on our way to the Caribbean.

We would like to thank everyone for their continued support!  Together, we are convinced, that we can amplify our mission and force real change while making our small contribution to preserving our environment for the next generations to enjoy.

Photo from Verena Brüning

Voyage 4 – Newest Arrivals

All AVONTUUR products were hand-selected by Captain Cornelius for their quality, environmental and social stewardship.  All proceeds are reinvested into the AVONTUUR and Cargo Under Sail.

In Stock

Peter Café Sport – Gin do Mar
The Famous Gin is back but not for long… 142/300 bottles already sold.

William Hinton – Honey Rum Liquor from Madeira 🐝
Tastes like Honey and Rum fell in love and made a beautiful Rum Liquor.

AVONTUUR Sea Salt
More course than the AVONTUUR was in dead calms.

Honey 🐝
Buzzing… these Azorean Bees work well together.

We can’t keep the secret any longer…  Announcing our newest additions to the Voyage 4 collection. These products are currently being bottled and prepared to be available soon.

AVONTUUR Signature Rum – Voyage 4
Madeira is the home to sea aged wines and award-winning rum. See where we are going with this?

AVONTUUR Signature Rum – Decks Cargo – Voyage 4
So we left a barrel on deck… The difference was so vast, we needed another label.

AVONTUUR Mission’s Best – Voyage 4
We loaded our favourite barrel on board from La Palma on Voyage 3… Well, we forgot about it (not really) and left it onboard for Voyage 4.  Our mistake is your reward.

AVONTUUR Schooner Korn – Voyage 4
What would happen if we sourced and sailed Korn in the very finest Chateau Margeaux barrels?  The result?  By law, we are forced to call this a Korn but it’s not, it’s more.

AVONTUUR Schooner Korn – Decks Cargo – Voyage 4
On deck of the AVONTUUR during a storm is different from being below deck…  Here’s the proof.

AVONTUUR Merlot
Here’s the honest truth, there are rules to how traditional Bordeaux Bio winemakers age their barrels in climate-controlled storage facilities.  Our AVONTUUR crew, on the other hand, broke all these rules each day for 9 months… The result is anyone’s guess but as our Rums and Korns as witnesses, were very optimistic.

AVONTUUR Kaffee… this time from Mexico 
The farmers visited the ship, the sailors visited a farm. The coffee was exceptional and the people behind the bean are no exception.

AVONTUUR Chocolate 
In partnership with Choco Del Sol and their ‘Paradise Cocoa’ initiative, we will have our very own Bean-to-Bar-by-Sail chocolates available very soon!