Hi there
We are Elisa and Mike sailing s/y Mateńka.
After returning from our shakedown cruise across the Atlantic in 2018, we are currently stationed in Gdańsk, Poland and working on an insane refit, so that next time, we can take off for good.
The boat
Mateńka is a 45ft sailing vessel type Cetus from Poland. She has been built in 1986 by Elisa’s father and has been in the family all this time.
“Mateńka” means mommy in Polish, she was named after Elisa’s grandma and nowadays we like to call her “granny”.
She’s had an epic history. From being built in the Eastern Bloc in the 80’s, to being abandoned at sea in Italy and almost sinking, to being rescued again, and finally with a lot of blood, sweat and tears, she is sailing the world once again.
The trip so far
In 1987 Elisa’s dad finished builing Mateńka and left for sunny waters. He took part in ARC 1987 and made it all the way to the Caribbean.
In 2017 we followed his steps and took off on what we call our shakedown cruise across the Atlantic. We couldn’t afford a lot of equipment that a typical bluewater cruiser would have, but who needs warm water when there’s an entire ocean around you.
