Sailing on the Kalmar Nyckel

September 01, 2014

Sailing on the Kalmar Nyckel

Recently we enjoyed a 2-1/2 hour cruise on the Kalmar Nyckel, a replica of the 1600s era Tall Ship that brought the first Dutch settlers to Delaware. The original Kalmar Nyckel made four roundtrip crossings of the Alantic between 1637 and 1645, more than any other vessel of its era. Click here for the history of the original ship. This replica was build at the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation's shipyard in Wilmington, after extensive research that took a number of years, starting with a dream in the 1980s and 90s. The ship was constructed from 1995 to 1997 under the supervision of Master Shipwright Allen C. Rawl.

Our friend Andy Shaw, shipwright/woodworker also worked on the project. According to their website "The new Kalmar Nyckel sails daily from April to November, voyaging over 3,000 nautical miles each year. She sails from her home port in Wilmington, her second port in Lewes, Delaware, and visits ports-of-call along the Eastern Seaboard from Virginia to New England. The ship is served by a crew of 300 active volunteers and USCG-certified officers, including the ship’s captain, a relief captain, first mate, and second mate/lead educator. In addition to sailing, the volunteer crew maintains the ship each winter season and delivers much of the Foundation’s educational program throughout the year.

As a full-scale and faithful re-creation of Peter Minuit’s original flagship that founded the colony of New Sweden on the Delaware, the new Kalmar Nyckel provides a unique platform for the Foundation’s educational programming as well as a venue for diplomatic, recreational, governmental, and commemorative functions — a sea-going “good will ambassador” for the state of Delaware."

And boy was it fun to sail on! Here's my photo essay, to give you an idea of what it felt like. (Be sure to click on each photo to see the whole image)