Project Viera

The initial purpose of this boat was simple: to use it as a means of emigration during the era of communism in Czech Republic. The plan was to build a robust vessel, launch it into the sea in Yugoslavia, and sail to the USA for a better life. This idea was flashing through my grandfather’s mind in the late 1970s. Unfortunately, it’s now more than 35 years since the revolution, and the boat still stands on dry land in a hangar in the Czech Republic.

This year marks 50 years since the first idea to build a ferrocement boat. During this time, Viera has gone through several stages of construction, development, improvement, and fine-tuning. It has had a few test voyages, but for most of the time, it remained unnoticed in various garages and hangars across the Czech Republic and Germany. Until now! For its 50th birthday, it’s getting a new purpose. The decades when the boat was merely a bottomless money pit and a burden are over!

Voyage Plan

The plan is clear. In mid-May 2025, Viera will be transported to the port of Bratislava, and in early June 2025, it will set sail down the Danube to reach the Black Sea. From there, it will continue through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles into the Mediterranean Sea. The summer will be spent enjoying Greece, Italy, and the coasts of France and Spain. At the end of summer, the journey will continue into the Atlantic Ocean, crossing the Bay of Biscay and sailing through the Celtic and Irish Seas to Scotland, where Viera will spend the winter.

In the following year, 2026, the plan is to sail around the Hebrides, the Orkney Islands, and the Shetland Islands, heading towards the Faroe Islands. The journey will then continue to the coast of Iceland, crossing the Denmark Strait to Greenland’s shores. From there, Viera will sail around the southern tip of Greenland into Baffin Bay and, by the end of summer, navigate through the famous Northwest Passage to Canada and Alaska, where the boat will overwinter for the second time.

And what about 2027? Will Viera sail around the world???

The Sailboat

Sometime around 1976, a frustrated Fanouš, dreaming of emigrating to the USA, was poring over sailing books. The idea of building his own boat and sailing west kept running through his mind. His inspiration came from the technical drawing of the “Saxon Class” boat from 1962. Filled with enthusiasm, he began drafting and sketching until he created his own design based on the original, incorporating elements of ocean liners and steamships.

By 1978, the first construction work had already begun in an old shed in Jablonec nad Nisou. He first welded the ribs of the boat from iron plates, which he then reinforced with 4mm iron sheets. Unfortunately, the iron hull didn’t seem sturdy enough to him, so he started welding mesh onto the boat and slapping on concrete, thus creating an unsinkable ferrocement hull.

It took another 50 years and thousands of man-hours, on and off, before the boat reached its current state. After all it was named after the patient grandmother “Viera”. It went through several development stages under the guidance of multiple creators from a family line of inventors, starting with grandfather František, continuing with father Leoš, and now with his son Leoš. The boat was launched several times, with the longest voyage taking place in the North Sea around the island of Rügen in Germany. It has now undergone significant changes and is ready for a grand journey.

Time Plan