Help JK Malinska buy a van

In Malinska, the sea is not an attraction. The sea is a courtyard.

This is where the children first learned to tie a rope, raise a sail and return home salty, tired and happy. The Malinska Sailing Club has existed since 2004. For twenty-two years we have been a small island club with a small budget and a big heart. We sailed in our bay. It worked. While it worked.

This winter we have 11 kids sailing. Last year there were six. With six we still managed somehow: someone drives, someone waits, someone loads. With eleven it's no longer a story of goodwill. It's a story of whether the club will even be able to operate.

That's why we left the bay.

We moved the training to Punat , 20 kilometers from Malinska. The sea is opener there, the wind is better, and the competition is stronger. We sail with three other local clubs (JK Vihor Baška, JK Punat, JK Plav Krk). There are 20 to 30 of us young sailors on the water. Our children are no longer just learning how to hold the helm. They are learning how to hold on to someone who is faster. That makes them better. And that keeps them at sea.

But from Malinska to Punat, and from home to the regatta, you have to get there with the whole world in your hands: boats, sails, life jackets, strollers and a dinghy. That won't fit in a family car. And a family car can't tow a trailer with a dinghy and boats.

Without a van, the children remain limited to our cove.

They go with the van to where they grow.

We are not looking for a new van. A new one is too expensive for us, and we know it. We are looking for a clean, used vehicle for 8–9 people, strong enough to pull what this club needs to pull for the kids to sail. We would be happy to buy a new van, but we are aware of the reality. We are not saving for luxury. We are saving so that 11 kids are not dependent on who is free that weekend and whose car can take the trailer.

If you can give, please help. Even a small amount from this island means someone is sitting in a van next weekend, not staying on the waterfront.

If you can't, tell this to someone who can. And that's a donation.

JK Malinska