Kalmar Nyckel Comes Home

Tiny Delaware's very own tall sailing ship returns to Lewes and a beautiful sight it is, too. From our local weekly, The Cape Gazette:

Kalmar Nyckel is sailing back from Massachusetts to her home state of Delaware and is expected to arrive in Lewes Friday, Aug. 5. The public is invited to join the ship for a sail or to sign on as volunteer crew.  Public sails will begin Sunday, Aug. 7, and will be offered through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 5.
Passengers can sail on this authentic re-creation of a tall ship that brought the earliest permanent settlers to Delaware. The ship has eight sails and eight miles of rigging. Capt. Lauren Morgens and crew stand ready to make the trip exciting for the whole family. Visitors can choose an evening or day sail, or embark on a special pirate sail. Although the original Kalmar Nyckel was never a pirate vessel, serving instead as a trader, naval scout and Colonial ship, today’s crew love playing the part in the pirate sails. These excursions are especially popular with children.
“A sail on the Kalmar Nyckel is a unique way to learn about Delaware’s maritime and cultural history, and it’s fun, too. Passengers can haul lines and sing a sea chantey when the crew hoists the tops’l,” said Catherine Parsells, Kalmar Nyckel Foundation executive director.
Kalmar Nyckel is an authentic re-creation of a 17th century Dutch vessel, one of America’s pioneering tall ships that brought some of the earliest permanent settlers to the colonies. Her historical significance mirrors that of the Mayflower. The original Kalmar Nyckel sailed from Sweden to the New World in 1638, leaving her passengers to establish the first permanent European settlement in the Delaware Valley, at Fort Christina in present-day Wilmington.
Kalmar Nyckel was featured in April in National Geographic Television’s “Return of the Ghost Ship,” which aired in 124 countries around the world. This documentary explored a 17th -century ghost ship found intact at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Kalmar Nyckel and her crew were selected for the live shots given the ship’s strong resemblance to the sunken ship.

I hope to get to see her before she sails again. Last time I was actually on-board, was about 8 years ago. I've missed her the last 5 years due to working weekends.  She is a real beauty.

The rest is HERE.

More later.
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