Fleur de Passion

Fleur de Passion is the Foundation's flagship and project station.

Fleur de Passion is a sailing ship with an uncanny history...
Originally a motor boat in the German Navy, it was built in 1942 for the war, plying the waters to de-mine and supply submarines. To that effect, it was built with a mixed structure – a wooden hull and sturdy, steal ribs. In 1945 the French Navy seized it as compensation for war damages. Thirty years later it was stripped of its weapons and sold to a man who turned it into a ketch. He called her Fleur de Passion. For the next 20 years she sailed the Mediterranean and the Atlantic as a vessel for socio-educational and scientific projects.

Running out of steam and short of funds, she was then abandoned and left to rot in a dock near Marseille.

Then in 2002 came a new lease on life. Six years of toil and over 60,000 hours of sweat and hard labour got her back in shape for a whole new mission. Beyond gearing her up with all the trappings needed for modern science and communications, this arduous labor of love saved a masterpiece of Europe’s marine heritage.

Fleur de Passion is now ready to sail with a new crew, far and wide, to explore the big blue.

You’ll find pictures and much more about Fleur de Passion’s life, past and present, right here.