The Tall Ship “Kalmar Nyckel” At Her Lewes, Delaware Berth
Saturday before last was a very pleasant day, spent with my husband driving round trip to Lewes, Delaware to check out the on-board facilities of the tall sailing ship, the Kalmar Nyckel which is currently moored at the Lewes Ferry Terminal. In June she is making a 5 day stay at the deep water harbor in Cape Charles, VA. Lots of great activities have been planned around her arrival including a private on-board reception given by Blue Heron Realty Co., which is one of the principal sponsors of her trip to Cape Charles. Having been advised that space is very tight, on the “better safe than sorry” theory, I decided that in preparation for the reception I should see the physical set-up and measure the spaces the ship has to offer well in advance. And I am sooooo glad I did ! Communication is an amazing thing, involving bringing one’s own frame of reference into the equation. So what I had envisioned as “tight” didn’t compare to the reality at all. When translated to space on a sailboat, of course I already knew that “tight” actually means almost no room whatsoever. But I had envisioned that it would be quite different on the 143 foot Kalmar Nyckel — not at all ! There is no room to set up tables for food or beverages so it was clear that we will have to make do with the ship’s various built-ins– the Captain suggested serving beverages from a small chart box in the stern, food from a flat surfaced 6 ft. by 4 ft. low cabinet near the bow ( which the crew has nicknamed “the doghouse” ), a real challenge which would have been even more so on the day had I not previewed it in advance. So, really glad we made that 5 hour round trip drive to Lewes. Plus we had time to stop and tour the Lewes Lifesaving Station which was very interesting and then had one of the best brick oven pizzas ever at a little Italian restaurant in Fenwick Island called Mancini’s, so not all work and no play.
A word or two on the history of the Kalmar Nyckel. According to a very informative little book entitled “Mallets, Chisels & Planes” written by Charles Ireland, Jr., the original Kalmar Nyckel was used as a merchant ship, an exploration vessel and finally as a warship. Built by the Dutch in the late 1620’s, in 1637 she was selected for a special voyage by the Swedish Crown, the purpose of which was to explore and colonize the New World, i.e., North America. She arrived in “New Sweden” ( now the state of Delaware) in 1629 and there her passengers established a colony and built a fort. In 1645 she was re-commissioned as a warship after having made three more voyages to “New Sweden”. 350 years later a group formed with the express purpose of creating a foundation to replicate the Kalmar Nyckel using basically the same shipbuilding methods and tools that were used to construct her namesake. One of the biggest challenges by far was to pull together an architect and the skilled craftsmen with the dedication and capability to successfully undertake such an arduous and complicated endeavor.
Cape Charles Events Schedule
Starting with locating an old shipyard on the banks of the Christina River near Wilmington, Delaware, close to the 1638 landing site of the original vessel, then converting it to become what a 17th century shipyard would have been, the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation gathered together volunteers and financial backers plus an enthusiastic team of shipwrights and blacksmiths, sail makers and riggers from all over the globe who were interested in becoming part of this faithful reproduction including her 8 miles of rigging and very ornate decorations and figurehead. The rest, as they say, is history. And so the first week of June, this amazing ship, considered to be the queen of modern day tall ship reproductions, will for the first time sail proudly into the Cape Charles harbor where she will be most heartily welcomed by Dora Sullivan, Mayor of Cape Charles and other dignataries prior to Blue Heron’s private reception. Over that week-end, the Foundation is offering tickets for 4 different sailing trips into the Chesapeake Bay of about 2 1/2 hours each , which should be lots of fun, as well as offering public tours on the following Monday. So if you’re nearby, come on down and see what a tall sailing ship from the early 1600’s looks like, she is a pretty dramatic and interesting sight, well worth coming to take a tour.
(Posted by Marlene Cree, licensed Virginia agent with Blue Heron Realty Co., 7134 Wilsonia Neck Dr., Machipongo, VA)
