With our strategic location, deep water harbor, and pristine environment, Cape Charles is fast becoming a popular harbor for tall ships plying the Atlantic coast and the Chesapeake Bay to put in for a visit, re-provision, and give their crews, who are often students experiencing a “seamester” aboard, important educational and recreational opportunities.
From June 6-12, 2012 Cape Charles will join the spectacle and festivity of OpSail 2012 Virginia™ as one of eight Norfolk affiliate ports to host tall ships – we will have at least three! – as well as wooden vessels of every description, plus navy and coast guard ships.
In 2011 we hosted the tall ships Kalmar Nyckel and Spirit of Massachusetts with Godspeed dropping by for an impromptu visit.
Kalmar Nyckel
Kalmar Nyckel in Cape Charles
The crew of Kalmar Nyckel, Delaware’s official tall ship ambassador, are historical re-enactors and the ship is an authentic re-creation of a 17th century Dutch vessel, one of America’s pioneering tall ships that brought some of the earliest permanentsettlers to the colonies. Her historical significance mirrors that of the Mayflower. While in Cape Charles in June, she welcomed aboard 1099 visitors from around the region including three groups of public school children. In addition, the ship boasted sold-out charters for two and a half hour day sails, where passengers hauled lines and sang sea shantys.
Spirit of Massachusetts
Spirit of Massachusetts
In October, our harbor proudly welcomed the 125-foot Tall Ship Spirit of Massachusetts when she dropped by Cape Charles for four days en route to the Caribbean.
An excellent example of a Gloucester fishing schooner, the Spirit of Massachusetts opened her decks for public visitation and hosted tours for Northampton County residents and visitors as well as school children. The Spirit of Massachusetts is one of three ships owned and managed by Ocean Classroom Foundation, an educational organization that provides programs of sea education and adventure for the youth of America. She is modeled after the 1889 fishing schooner Fredonia, designed by Edward Burgess. The Gloucester fishing schooners were widely known as “fast and able” vessels, and Fredonia especially for her speed. Spirit of Massachusetts proudly upholds that tradition to this day.
Godspeed
Tall Ship Godspeed
Jamestown Settlement’s 88-foot tall ship Godspeed, a re-creation of one of the three ships that brought America’s first permanent English colonists to Virginia in 1607, is a regular visitor to Cape Charles as part of her educational outreach. We look forward to hosting her again in the fall 2012, when local school children may tour her decks and learn about the four-and-a-half-month voyage from England and take part in periodic demonstrations of 17th-century piloting and navigation.
