PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

Rowing from Greece to Turkey.

Creating awareness for children adversely affected by conflict around the world.

Raising funds for Save The Children.

Supporting Huw Kingston's mediterr année Project.

A crew of three, an Australian, a Slovenian and a Greek.

On a single ocean rowboat, to row 400 Nautical Miles, non-stop and unsupported.

The Mission

Beginning of March 2015, Dimitris Kokkoris joins forces with Australian Huw Kingston and Slovenian Marin Medak,to row across the Southern Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. This is his mission to support and reinforce Huw's year long mediterr année project travelling around the Mediterranean by foot, kayak, bike and rowboat. This mission is only part of Huw's greater mediterr année project. Huw and Marin will start rowing from Tynisia to Malta and continue to Greece, where Dimitris will join them. Together they will keep rowing for approximately another 4000nm, from Peloponnese to Turkey, day and night, non-stop and unsupported, no matter the conditions. The mission will take approximately 12 long days to complete, through which their physical and mental strength will often be challenged and their personal boundaries explored. The boat, named Mr. Hops, is a specially designed ocean rowboat. Mr. Hops will be the team's shelter for the days to come. In his endeavor, Dimitris enjoys full support from his teammates at the Cannibals Adventure Team and the Surfers4Life vollunteer organization.

400 Nautical Miles

Non-Stop & Unsupported

10 - 15 Rowing Days

The Purpose

While seeking a life full of thrills and adventures, Dimitris has always been in search of ways to make his life matter and his actions to have a positive impact on other people's lives. Challenging his own limits is just another way of saying that no matter the circumstances, he will try to break those personal boundaries that keep him away from his dreams and from becoming a better human being, in order to be able to lead by example, give back to society and more so, to the ones in need. By participating in Huw's mediterr année project, he wants to help create awareness and raise funds for Save the Children, to assist the work they do to help children adversely affected by conflict around the world. Full details on the fundraising element of the project can be found HERE.

The Route

Departing the port of Foinikounta, in Peloponnese, the team will row directly to Fethiye, in Turkey. Measuring the distance in straight lines from one destination to the other the distance to be covered is a mere 400nm, but since the rowboat will actually not travel on a straight line due to alternating wind direction, water currents and sea state, the team is expecting to row more than 450nm. On paper it looks straightforward, but there are variables like health, weather or other conditions, that the team can fully expect plans to change along the way, if necessary.

Real Time Tracking

Due to long delays caused by weather conditions, the team decided to split. On Tuesday, 24th of March, Huw travelled to Marmaris, from where he will continue his year long journey in his kayak, Ms.Grape. Follow his myspot page and watch how he proceeds through the last section of mediterr année.

Tracker - See where Huw is today

Meanwhile, Dimitris and Marin will try to complete the rowing section of mediterr annee to Turkey, onboard Mr.Hops. Follow them on Marine Traffic's page and watch how they advance their way through the Aegean Sea.

Tracker - Click here to see Dimitris and Marin's position

Fundraising

Save the Children is one of the world's leading independent emergency relief and development organisations for children. They aim to save and protect children's lives and strive to give every child a safe and happy childhood. One of the saddest aspects of any war is the children who become injured, orphaned or traumatized during conflicts. Save the Children work in such conflict zones as Syria, The Congo and Afghanistan to offer assistance directly to such children. Help for those needlessly harmed physically, economically and psychologically today is one thing that will certainly help drive Dimitris, Marin and Huw through difficult times during their journey. Save the Children is excited to be the Charity Partner for mediterr année and look forward to working with the team and the sponsors of the journey to maximize the funds raised by the project.

Full details on the work carried out by Save The Children can be found HERE.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: You can sponsor Dimitris on the journey by donating via Huw's Save The Children fundraising page.

The Team

The real value behind any kind of project is usually the people involved, especially the ones working behind the scenes! So here they are, beautiful, full of energy, passion and appetite to create, design, support, innovate and communicate! Dimitris feels extremely grateful for being supported by such an amazing team of individuals, who enable him to focus on his own task of rowing to Save The Children.

Messages of Support

Leave your own message of support via the Cannibals facebook page.

Leave your Message of Support via Facebook

What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived; it is what difference we have made to the lives of others, that will determine the significance of the life we lead.

- Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela -

Dearest Dimitris and crew, we’d like to congratulate you for your remarkable humanitarian action aiming at the worldwide awareness regarding children that suffer from wars in their countries. This effort of yours stands out as a beacon of hope for them as well as a shining example for all of us. The Management and employees of VMG factory wish to thank you cordially for giving us the opportunity to stand by you on this endeavor and it is a great honor for our company to support you and your crew. We wish you wholeheartedly the best of success in your strenuous effort!

- Vassilis Portosalte, Team VMG Factory -