Croatian traditional boat to sail around Manhattan and Liberty Island
- by croatiaweek
- in Entertainment
The 33rd anniversary of Croatia’s admission to the United Nations and Croatian Heritage Day will be celebrated in a special way in New York this May — with a traditional neretvanska lađa sailing the East River and Hudson River.
The crew, known as the Šumari (Foresters), are already in full training, preparing for a challenging two-day journey covering a distance equivalent to three Neretva Marathons.
Practising on a fishpond in Stari Štefanje, surrounded by reeds and rushes, they will soon be rowing past the Statue of Liberty itself.
“We really don’t know what to expect, but we are adaptable. We work in all weather conditions – rain, snow, ice – nothing stops us,” team member Andrej Polančec told HRT.
The team is not taking the task lightly. With years of experience, including participation in thirteen Marathons on the Neretva River and many other rowing adventures, they are well-prepared.
“The current and waves in New York are a bit of an unknown for us, but we believe we’ll manage it – in true forester spirit,” added Predrag Živković.
Lađa (Photo credit: MaGa/CC BY-SA 3.0)
To complete the 60-kilometre route, the plan is to combine two crews, expecting the row to take around 8 to 10 hours, explained Hrvoje Zeman, founder of the “Šumari lađari” team from the Croatian Forestry Association in Bjelovar.
Joining them will be a team of female rowers from Opuzen, who will help carry an important message — one of freedom, honouring Croatian war veterans, preserving tradition, and strengthening ties with young people from the Croatian diaspora.
The lađa has already set off from Ploče towards New York, packed carefully in a special container. While it is hard to imagine the Neretva River without it, the boat’s new, permanent home will be across the Atlantic.
“We are leaving the lađa in New York for our young people from the diaspora. We are in contact with them, and they will likely take part in future Neretva Marathons,” said Miljenko Milojko Glasović, president of the Association for the Preservation of Neretva Heritage.
(Photo credit: MaGa/CC BY-SA 3.0)
The 45-member Croatian delegation hopes this symbolic act will sow new seeds of love for Croatian traditions, even in parts of Croatia – and the world – far from the Neretva Valley.
