The brig Roald Amundsen

1 July 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  9 minutes

at Kieler Woche 2007 © VollwertBIT/cc-by-sa-2.5

at Kieler Woche 2007 © VollwertBIT/cc-by-sa-2.5

Roald Amundsen (often abbreviated Roald; named in honor of Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen), originally named Vilm, is a German steel-ship built on the Elbe River in 1952. Having worked in different areas, she was refitted in 1992 to 1993 as a brig (two-masted square-rigged sailing ship) and now serves as a sail training ship. During summer, she usually operates in the Baltic Sea, and usually embarks for journeys to farther destinations for winter, including several trans-Atlantic crossings.   read more…

The brig-sloop HMS Beagle

1 August 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  19 minutes

HMS Beagle Replica in 2017 in Punta Arenas © S p-hunter/cc-by-sa-4.0

HMS Beagle Replica in 2017 in Punta Arenas © S p-hunter/cc-by-sa-4.0

HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803 (£613,000 in today’s currency), was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. In July of that year she took part in a fleet review celebrating the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom, and for that occasion is said to have been the first ship to sail completely under the old London Bridge. There was no immediate need for Beagle so she “lay in ordinary“, moored afloat but without masts or rigging. She was then adapted as a survey barque and took part in three survey expeditions.   read more…

Lady Washington

14 January 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Tall ships Reading Time:  7 minutes

Lady Washington on Morro Bay © flickr.com - Michael L. Baird/cc-by-2.0

Lady Washington on Morro Bay © flickr.com – Michael L. Baird/cc-by-2.0

Lady Washington is a ship name that is shared by at least 4 different small wooden merchant sailing vessels during two different time periods. The original sailed for about 10 years in the 18th century. A somewhat updated modern replica was created in 1989. Lady Washington has appeared in various films, portraying HMS Interceptor in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and the brig Enterprise, a namesake of the Starship Enterprise, on the holodeck in Star Trek Generations.   read more…

Theme Week Turkish Riviera – Gullet, the motor glider of the Turkish Riviera

23 August 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Tall ships, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  6 minutes

Gulet type schooners near Bodrum © Georges Jansoone/cc-by-sa-3.0

Gulet type schooners near Bodrum © Georges Jansoone/cc-by-sa-3.0

A gulet is a traditional design of a two-masted or three-masted wooden sailing vessel (the most common design has two masts) from the southwestern coast of Turkey, particularly built in the coastal towns of Bodrum and Marmaris; although similar vessels can be found all around the eastern Mediterranean. Today, this type of vessel, varying in size from 14 to 35 metres, is popular for tourist charters. For considerations of crew economy, diesel power is now almost universally used and many are not properly rigged for sailing.   read more…

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