Smiley, the Charity Clown Boat - Expedition Danube!
Three young men sail 2.200 km down the river Danube on a self-built catamaran. Along the way, they will bring smiles and laughter to children in hospitals. Their goal is to raise awareness and resources to extend C4C's Dr. Clown initiative.
Encourage them with your contribution to make their voyage a success!
They are old friends, their creed is adventure and they are known to insiders as the "Challengers of the East"! In 2015, their last adventure took them in a Skoda Favorite all the way to Mongolia - 22.000 km! They wrote a book about it! Now they're back and ready for a new challenge.
Kicking off their 2.200 km journey down the river Danube in their home-made raft, the team aims to raise awareness and needed funds for the plight of hospitalized children in Central Europe. They have embarked upon on their trip on the 30th of June at Gabcikovo dam in Slovakia and they hope to reach Constanta, Romania, and the Black Sea by July 20th. On their way downstream, they'll be stopping over in major cities hugging the banks of Europe’s second largest river, to bring Dr. Clown's "Smile Therapy" to children fighting against sickness and the "Hospital Blues" - Budapest, Belgrade, Constanta, etc.
To make their journey a success and help them reach their goal of 500.000 CZK to donate to the Dr. Clown initiative, the team is looking for sponsorships and partners. Everyone who pitches in will receive an electronic version of the photo-docu of their trip. All donations, big or small, are appreciated. If you would like to become a Sponsor of the Day, your company logo or name will be displayed on the running map on this site and pictures of this day will have your logo or name on them – for posterity! The team asks a donation of 15.000 CZK for the daily sponsorship.
Day Nr. 19: Our Challengers reached their final destination: Constanta! As they were spreading joy, kindness and laughter on their 2200 km journey down the Danube, in return they also received: The owners of this campground were so grateful for their mission, that they drove them to the Constanta Hospital, where the team had their last and final Dr. Clown visit with resident children. Dr. Clown's Laughter Therapy was enjoyed by all, children, doctors, nurses and parents alike.
7/18/2018
Day Nr.18 journey on the Black see: https://www.facebook.com/challengers2018/videos/1103766509772467/
7/17/2018
Day Nr. 17: WOW - Our Challengers arrived to the Black see!
7/14/2018
Day Nr 15: Our challengers are close to the Black see already. The weather is better, from time to time they need to face some thunderstorms.
Day Nr. 13: Our Challengers are still following the Romanian - Bulgarian border. They will now turn towards the north - to the Romanian inland. The Day seemed to be calm and tranquil - but then an unexpected thunderstorm hit them. As they were trying to escape the storm, one of the banners broke and they hope that the catamaran did not get damaged. We will find out more once they have an Internet connection again.
7/12/2018
Day Nr. 12: The Smiley crew was shopping for their supplies in the small city of Corabia - a place with a nice harbor build thanks to European union. A local guy drove Oliver to a gas station nearby - so Oliver didn't have to walk for several kilometers. It was a calm, sunny day and the one thing that made it special was the view of Bulgarian coast and meeting the Rapid Dredger 3 excavating vessel.
7/11/2018
Day Nr.10 : Finally, better weather! It's beautiful and warm, so guys managed to finally wash and wash and wash... . But let's stop talking about the weather - they have seen today a very ugly aspect of the Danube. I do not know how this can happen, and let alone in Europe. Almost as if someone just dumped trash on the river bank ... Really very sad look.
