HELP RAISE IRISH MAN’S SUNKEN HOUSEBOAT IN VENICE

ENGLISH/ITALIAN

Hello there, I’m Daryl, an Irish guy who, ‪until Wednesday‬, was lucky enough to live on a houseboat in Venice. . .

To locals here I’m known as the Irish Pirate, the captain who enjoyed in my spare time taking volunteering visitors (138 persons from 22 countries, in total) around the canals Plastic Fishing - collecting plastics from aboard my small traditional wooden Venetian motorboat, Pegasus. During the week, I work as an English teacher to children ages 5-12 years old.

I’ve been doing this, serving and celebrating Venice and its people, for the past five years. I care deeply about the state of this city and its environment. Venice is my home. 
On Tuesday night (November 12/13), a perfect mix of extraordinarily high tides, a full moon, winds reaching 100km and hard rain created a phenomenon in the lagoon known as Acqua alta, where the waters reached up to 187cm (for reference, San Marco stands at 80cm). I waited out the storm at a friend’s house, only to return home to my dear houseboat, named Gina, gone. We had met just 8 months ago but shared many dreams for the future. Now, she sat sunk at the bottom of the lagoon, taking with her everything I owned. My clothes, bed, photos, instruments, passport—gone!‬

In shock, I then frantically searched for my motorboat Pegasus before realising that the wooden debris scattered in all directions was, in fact, all that remained of my trusty sidekick.

As I mentioned, before the storm, Gina and I had big plans. She would be home base for a nonprofit focused on environmental care for Venice. We would act as a bridge between visitors and the city, raising awareness of waste, particularly plastics, and its effects on the lagoon.  

I felt strongly that the nonprofit needed to be started in Venice. For obvious reasons, Venice is the ideal place to collaborate on innovative environmental programs from around the world. We can adapt them in real time. And as sea levels continue to rise, Venice can be an international leader in responsible care of our lands, waters and resources. Perhaps, I thought, with all the visitors coming to the city, I could introduce them to what we’re doing here, and they could take it back to share at home.  

Well, my home is sunk but my heart is not. It’s more important now than ever to start the nonprofit. And I don’t want to do it without Gina. With your help, I can raise and fully restore her.  

THE PLAN:
It’s a daunting, but doable, task. Here’s what I would need:
Rescuing Gina from the lagoon floor: €1,500
Transport to the boatyard and back for repairs: €200
Professional outer-body (paint) and inner-body (insulation, wooden interior, kitchen, bathroom) restoration: €5,000
An electric engine (environmentally friendly—no gasoline!): €8,000
A complete fitting of off-grid solar panels, solar regulator, golf cart batteries, AC/DC inverter, inner and outer boat lights: €1,300 Sail restoration:
€1,700 Yearly mooring in a safer place then before: €3,000
Nonprofit set-up: €650+
…And finally, an electric outboard motor and boat to replace Pegasus, so I can continue my volunteering plastic fishing: €3,650 Total cost: €25,000

CAN YOU HELP?
Donations of all sizes are dearly welcome.
As part of your contribution, you will automatically be made a founding member of our nonprofit (send your email to receive a copy of your membership!), where you will enjoy free entry to any of Gina’s upcoming events for one calendar year.

Donations €50 and over will be invited to join us on one of our plastic fishing trips, which will run weekly.

Donations €100 and over will be invited to join us for aperitivo on a new-and-improved Gina, once she makes her debut.

Donations €200 and over will be invited to join us on an educational lagoon excursion.

-- If you’ve read this far, I am so thankful for you taking the time to get to know my story.
And if you are able to donate, please know I am very grateful for any amount of help you can provide.

go raibh maith agat.
Grazie mille.
Thank you very much for being part of this.

Rrrraaahhh Daryl Irish Pirate!

* * *

Daryl è un ragazzo irlandese che vive a Venezia da cinque anni a bordo della sua barca di nome Gina ormeggiata lungo i canali. Durante la settimana Daryl insegna inglese ai bambini della città ma nel suo tempo libero ha una missione: accompagnare turisti di tutto il mondo (138 persone di 22 nazionalità finora) a raccogliere plastiche dai canali grazie a Pegasus, una piccola barca a motore in stile veneziano.
L’acqua alta della scorsa settimana ha distrutto sia Gina che Pegasus, ma non i sogni di Daryl, che vuole dare nuova vita alla sua casa trasformandola nella sede di una ONG dedicata proprio alla salvaguardia ambientale di Venezia, a partire dai rifiuti plastici e facendo leva sul passaparola dei tanti turisti che affollano la città.