Sail Training Shp SS Jadran

 Jadran is a training ship powered both by sail and internal combustion built for the navy of Yugoslavia and now owned by the Navy of Montenegro. My friend Karoly a resident of Serbia sent me this fine card.. 

Jadran is a barkentine   with a displacement of 737 tons and a length of almost 60 meters. The beam reaches 8.90 m, intermediate draft is 4.05 m, the main mast height 39.1 m, and the deck surface totals 93.3 m². Total length of rope is 11 kilometers. The main motor is the "burmajster-alpha" 353 kN and develops a maximum speed of 10.4 knots. On the sailboat, there are three single, two double and three four-person cabins, one 12-berth and one 30 berth space.

On 16 July 1933, at 10.00 hours, the ship arrived in Tivat, and was commissioned into theYugoslav Royal Navy. The crew remained on board until April 17, when the destroyer Zagreb was sunk. It was surrendered to the Italian Navy , which used it as a training ship under the new name Marco Polo. 

At the request of the Yugoslav  government and the ship was returned to Tivat. Immediately its restoration was begun in the Sava Kovacevic marine-technical repair bureau. Repairs began on 21 April 1947, and finished on 17 December 1948. The ship was ready for sailing, and served as part of the Vojnopomorskog school center in Divulje. 

Sailing ships Lemland and Leo

On 2 February 2015, Åland Post Stamps launched a six-year stamp series featuring Åland sailing ships. The new series covers the golden age of Åland sailing ship history from the mid-1800s until World War II. The first two stamps feature the schooner Lemland and the barquentine Leo, both characteristic of the mid-1800s. These are shown on the two maxi cards displayed above which were given to me by my dear friend Ella.

This was when Åland peasants first acquired the right to import steel and build their own vessels. The so called peasant sailing started and, from having transported only their own goods, the peasants could now transport even the goods of others.

Launched in Åland in 1856, the form of the hull of the schooner Lemland was simply a development of rustic fishing boats of the time. The schooner was typically used for transporting timber across the Baltic Sea and the North Sea and is believed to be one of the pioneers of North Sea shipping in the 1860s. Lemland wrecked in the North Sea in 1876.

Built in Finland in 1870 for Åland parties, the barquentine Leo had a more international design of both rig and hull. For almost 30 years, the vessel was used to carry wood and iron between ports in Scandinavia and Great Britain/France.  

The Cutty Sark

Kate sent me this lovely card of The Cutty Sark, a British clipper ship. Built on the Clyde in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period of design development which halted as sailing ships gave way to steam propulsion.

The opening of the Suez Canal (also in 1869) meant that steam ships now enjoyed a much shorter route to China, so Cutty Sark spent only a few years on the tea trade before turning to the trade in wool from Australia, where she held the record time to Britain for ten years.

 Improvements in steam technology meant that gradually steamships also came to dominate the longer sailing route to Australia and the ship was sold to the Portuguese company Ferreira and Co. in 1895, and renamed Ferreira. She continued as a cargo ship until purchased by retired sea captain Wilfred Dowman in 1922, who used her as a training ship operating from Falmouth, Cornwall. After his death, Cutty Sark was transferred to the Thames Nautical Training College, Greenhithe in 1938 where she became an auxiliary cadet training ship alongside HMS Worcester. By 1954 she had ceased to be useful as a cadet ship and was transferred to permanent dry dock at Greenwich, London on public display.

Cutty Sark is one of three historical sea vessels in London on the Core Collection of the National Historic Ships Register (the nautical equivalent of a Grade 1 Listed Building) – alongside HMS Belfast and SS Robin. She is one of only three remaining original composite construction (wooden hull on an iron frame) clipper ships from the nineteenth century in part or whole, the others being the City of Adelaide, awaiting transportation to Australia for preservation, and the beached skeleton of Ambassador of 1869 near Punta Arenas, Chile.

The ship was badly damaged by fire on 21 May 2007 while undergoing conservation. The vessel has since been restored and reopened to the public on 25 April 2012.

M/aux Astrid

"ASTRID" is a traditional English
sailing vessel, crewed by experienced sailors well 
acquainted with the Finnish archipelago. 

The ship is fitted discreetly with all conveniences needed for Both work and leisure. ASTRID's  galley too is equipped to satisfy the demands of all.

Thank you Merja for this pretty card. 

East Indiaman Atlas 1813

My friend Rachel sent me this nice card showing a portrait of the East Indiaman ‘Atlas’,  off South Foreland, near Dover, in broadside view. She sailed on her first voyage to India in 1813 and made at least nine more thereafter until 1830. As the picture is dated 1826, it was probably made at the end of her seventh voyage to Madras and China. Unusually for East Indiamen, the Honourable East India Company’s ship ATLAS was built not on the Thames but on the Humber, by Thomas Steemson of Hull. Her first voyage was to Madras, India, and Whampoa, China, in 1813. This was the year the Company lost its monopoly on trade to and from India, although it retained that of the lucrative China tea trade until 1834.

She made a further voyage to Madras, Penang and Whampoa before the end of the Napoleonic War in 1815, carrying an outward cargo of various goods as well as mail, letters of credit and bullion, all of which facilitated trade. On her homeward voyage she brought tea, porcelain, silk and saltpetre for gunpowder. After two transfers of ownership and nine voyages, Captain Charles Otway Mayne, who had commanded her since her commissioning, sold her for £4,100 in August 1830, by which time she was considered fit only to be broken up.

She sailed on her first voyage to India in 1813 and made at least nine more thereafter until 1830. As the picture is dated 1826, it was probably made at the end of her seventh voyage to Madras and China. The ‘ATLAS’ was built in 1812 by Thomas Steemson at Paul's Yard near Hull, her managing owner being James Staniforth. She was mounted with 26-guns and had a complement of 130 men at full strength.
Tonnage 1267 ton (bm), dimensions 134.0 x 42.2 x 17.0ft.

During her East India Company service she sailed to Madras, Bengal and China under the command of Captain Charles Otway Mayne, who was able to accumulate a fortune as a result of these voyages. This was not always without problems, since in 1817, the surgeon and second mate of the ‘ATLAS’ complained to the council at Canton that Mayne had taken all the extra 30 tons of private cargo normally allowed by the Company to ships officers. Their claim was upheld. 1820 Sold to Jasper Vaux, still under command of Captain Mayne.

After seven voyages Captain Mayne became the ship's owner when he bought the ship from the Executors of Jasper Vaux who died in 1823.and he placed the command of the vessel under Captain John Hine, after which the ATLAS undertook a further two regular sailings. She arrived at Gravesend at the end of her last voyage in August 1830 and was sold in May 1831 for £4100 to Charles Carter for breaking.

Thank you very much Rachel for this nice card.

Kyrenia II

This maxicard was released in Paphos, Cyprus on 22.2.1991 to commemorate the “Kyrenia Ship” which was built during the 4^th Century BC, and sank around 300 BC near the harbour of Kyrenia. This ship was salvaged, restored, reassembled and is today the world's oldest preserved vessel.

Kyrenia II which is a full size replica of the original ancient ship was built in 1987 and travels the world. The scope of her travel: a message for freedom, for the old vessel and her hometown Kyrenia which are both illegally in Turkish hands since the bloody invasion of the island by Turkish troops in July 1974.

Thank you Merja for this lovely card.

The Barque Sigyn

Sigyn, built in Göteborg 1887, now a museum ship in Turku, is the last remaining wooden barque used for trade across the oceans. At the time she was built there were thousands of similar vessels, but she was one of the last ones built. She was quite small even for her time, considering she was built for long-distance trade, but well built and considered fast and beautiful. In these times the steam ships were taking over the most important routes; the Suez canal was already built and the Panama canal was planned. The tonnage of steam ships passed that of sailing ships in 1890, ten and thirty years later in Sweden and Finland respectively. On the other hand this was the time when big barques of steel were built. Sigyn was planned for another niche: the small size and small draught made her suited to also use small remote harbours.

The first decade Sigyn sailed on the Atlantic on tramp trade, mostly with wood (pine, spruce, pitch pine, mahogany, cedar), but also e.g. coal, probably sugar, once even hay. In 1897 she made one journey to Bangkok. After 1900 she sailed mostly in European waters.

As representative for "nautical circles" Otto Andersson, rector of Åbo Akademi, proposed 1936 the foundation of a maritime museum in Turku. A museum ship was needed and Sigyn was soon considered the best alternative. At that time there were only a few museum ships worldwide and Sigyn was to be the first in Finland. The picture on the card is a painting of the Sigyn by R. Chappel and is in The Maritime Museum of the Abo Akademi. This card was sent to me by Sipi.

Fishing Boats

An extremely pretty card showing fishing boats from a coastal village in Malaysia. Thank you Li Foong for this nice card.

Chinese Junk

A junk is an ancient Chinese sailing vessel design still in use today. Junks may have developed from very early bamboo rafts which had a high stern. Cromagnon cave paintings on the Indo China coast show junk shaped doublehull vessels. Junks were developed during the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) and were used as sea-going vessels as early as the 2nd century AD. They evolved in the later dynasties, and were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean voyages. They were found, and in lesser numbers are still found, throughout South-East Asia and India, but primarily in China, perhaps most famously inHong Kong. Found more broadly today is a growing number of modern recreational junk-rigged sailboats.

The term junk may be used to cover many kinds of boat—ocean-going, cargo-carrying, pleasure boats, live-aboards. They vary greatly in size and there are significant regional variations in the type of rig. To Western eyes, however, they all appear to resemble one another due to their most significant shared feature, their fully battened sails. My friend Iris sent me this wonderful card from Hong Kong. Besides the junk you can see the Victoria Peak on the Hong Kong Island and on the other side the commercial District of Kowloon on the mainland.

Statsraad Lehmkuhl

This pretty vessel is The Statsraad Lehmkuhl is a three-masted barque rigged sail-training vessel owned and operated by the Statsraad Lehmkuhl Foundation. It is based in Bergen, Norway and contracted out for various purposes, including serving as a school ship for the Royal Norwegian Navy (using RNoN's prefix "KNM", English: "HNoMS").
She was built in 1914 as a school training ship for the German merchant marine under the name Grossherzog Friedrich August. After the First World War the ship was taken as a prize by the United Kingdom, and in 1921 the ship was bought by former cabinet minister Kristoffer Lehmkuhl (hence the name, which means "Cabinet Minister Lehmkuhl"). With the exception of the Second World War, when she was captured by German troops and called Westwärts, the ship has belonged to Bergens Skoleskib until it was donated to the Foundation in 1978. In 2000, it was chartered by the German Navy while their Gorch Fock was overhauled. This card was sent to me by Merja.

The Tall Ships’ Races 2008

The Tall Ships' Races are races for sail training "tall ships" (sailing ships). The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing. The races are held annually in European waters and consists of two racing legs of several hundred nautical miles, and a "cruise in company" between the legs. Over one half (fifty-percent) of the crew of each ship participating in the races must consist of young people. Between 1973 and 2003 the races were known as The Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Races, having been sponsored by Cutty Sark whisky. From 2004 to 2010 the races were supported by The City, Province, and Port of Antwerp. The current sponsor of the Tall Ships' Races 2010–2014 is the city of Szczecin in Poland.

The card displayed is about the 2008 Races when the finishing Port was Den Helder in Holland. For those who seek to combine sailing with maritime history, Den Helder offers the perfect blend. A major port town of 60,000 inhabitants, just 80 km north of Amsterdam, Den Helder is the Netherlands’ no. 1 seaport for offshore yachting. But take a step back in time, and Den Helder offers you breathtaking maritime monuments and naval fortifications, dating back to Napoleonic times and even the Republic’s Golden Age. Den Helder is the homeport of the Royal Netherlands Navy, has major fishing and offshore industries and offers no less than six marinas.

During The Tall Ships’ Races 2008, more than 90 vessels of the STI fleet found berths in and around Oude Rijkswerf Willemsoord, once the ancient Napoleonic dockyard of the Royal Netherlands Navy, now fully restored as a nautical theme park. Offering museums, dry-docks, cinemas, restaurants and a marina in a beautifully restored historical setting, Willemsoord is a maritime monument of truly European stature. Den Helder is a port well-known to many Tall Ships and other sailing vessels that took part in our 1993 and 1997 Sail events. Captains and crews may well remember the quality of our liaison service, our technical facilities and the extensive programmes for trainees, crews and officers. It is not surprising that the races in 2013 would once again be in Den Helder. This lovely card was sent to me by my friend Ineke from Holland.

Finnish Frigate Osmo

This pretty picture was painted by the famous artist John Sychold.

Swan of Finland

Suomen Joutsen (also popularly known as the “Swan of Finland), is a three-masted, steel hull, full rigged ship. She was built in 1902 in St. Nazaire, France to serve in the trade between Atlantic and Pacific ports. In 1930, she was bought by the Government of Finland to serve as a Finnish Navy training ship. Before World War II she made eight long ocean voyages. From 1956 she was a stationary Seamen's School for the Finnish Merchant Navy. Since 1991, she has been a museum ship owned by City of Turku, Finland.

Famous Tall Ships

Thank you Karoly for this nice card. It’s indeed a ‘Who’s Who’ of famous Tall Ships.

The Gorch Fock I (ex Tovarishch, ex Gorch Fock) is a German three-mast barque, the first of a series built as school ships for the German Reichsmarine in 1933. She was taken as war reparations by the USSR after World War II and renamed Tovarishch. After a short period under the Ukrainian flag in the 1990s and a prolonged stay in British ports due to lack of funds for necessary repairs, the ship was acquired by sponsors and sailed to her original home port of Stralsund, where her original name of Gorch Fock was restored on November 29, 2003. She is a museum ship, and extensive repairs were carried out in 2008. The Federal German government built a replacement training ship, the Gorch Fock (1958), which is still in service.

Many regard Mir as the fastest Class A sail training ship in the world. Since 1996, she won the Tall Ship Races five times! Since 1990, up to 60 trainees of all ages are welcome on board to sail along with the Russian students of the Admiral Makarov State Maritime Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. Mir's full complement of sails is 26; she is sailed with a crew of 200 but can be sailed with only 30. The ship's crewmembers and cadets have acquired a lot of friends in many European and some American ports, which makes every arrival a joyful experience!

Alexander von Humboldt is a German ship originally built in 1906 by the German shipyard AG Weser at Bremen as Reserve Sonderburg. She was operated throughout the North and Baltic Seas until being retired in 1986. Subsequently she was converted into a three masted barque by the German shipyard Motorwerke Bremerhaven and was re-launched in 1988 as Alexander von Humboldt.

The STS Sedov, formerly the Magdalene Vinnen II (1921–1936) and the Kommodore Johnsen (–1948), is a 4-masted steel barque that for almost 80 years was the largest traditional sailing ship in operation. Originally built as a German cargo ship, the Sedov is today a sail training vessel, training cadets from the universities of Murmansk, Saint Petersburg and Arkhangelsk. She participates regularly in the big maritime international events as a privileged host and has also been a regular participant in the Tall Ships' Races.

Windjammers

A windjammer is the ultimate type of large sailing ship with an iron or for the most part steel hull, built to carry cargo in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Windjammers were the grandest of merchant sailing ships, with between three and five large masts and square sails, giving them a characteristic profile. The windjammers were cargo ships designed for ultra-long voyages. They usually carried bulk cargo, such as lumber, guano, grain or ore from one continent to another, usually following the prevailing winds and circumnavigating the globe during their voyages. Several of these ships are still in existence — either as school ships, museum ships or restaurant ships.

Windjammers 0f the Future. Due to environmental concerns and rising fuel costs, there has recently been consideration of constructing windjammer-derived ships for commercial service. Many of these may not be "true" windjammers, as they will likely have multiple propulsion systems for non-ideal wind conditions. They may also include kites to catch even more wind. One proposal by B9 Energy would see modern cargo ships with sails plying European waters by 2012. Maria sent me this card wit a Dutch windjammer on it.

Red sails in the sunset, way out on the sea

Thank you Maria for this lovely picture postcard which reminds me of, this nostalgic song immortalized by Nat King Cole. It was also performed beautifully by Fats Domino and admirably presented by The Beatles amongst many others.

{Red sails in the sunset, way out on the sea}
Oh, carry my loved one home safely to me
{She sailed at the dawning, all day I've been blue}
Red sails in the sunset, I'm trusting in you

Swift wings you must borrow
Make straight for the shore
We marry tomorrow
And she goes sailing no more

{Red sails in the sunset, way out on the sea}
Oh, carry my loved one home safely to me

Swift wings you must borrow
Make straight for the shore
We marry tomorrow
And she goes sailing no more

{Red sails in the sunset}
Way out on the sea (ooh-wee-ooh, wee-ooh)
Oh, carry my loved one
{Home safely to me}

Sailing Vessel

A beautiful picture of a sailing vessel off the Italian coat.

USA - La Santa María de la Inmaculada Concepción

La Santa María de la Inmaculada Concepción (Spanish for The Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception), was the largest of the three ships used by Christopher Columbus in his first voyage. Her master and owner was Juan de la Cosa. The Santa María was probably a small carrack, about 70 feet long, used as the flagship for the expedition. The other ships of the Columbus expedition were the smaller caravel-type ships Santa Clara, remembered as La Niña ("The Girl"), and La Pinta ("The Painted One"). All these ships were second-hand (if not third or more) and were never meant for exploration. The Santa María was originally named La Gallega ("The Galician), because she was built in Pontevedra, Galicia, in Spain's north-west. It seems the ship was known to her sailors as Marigalante, Spanish for "Gallant Maria". Bartolomé de Las Casas never used La Gallega, Marigalante or Santa María in his writings, preferring to use la Capitana or La Nao.
The Santa María had a single deck and three masts. She was the slowest of Columbus's vessels but performed well in the Atlantic crossing. She ran aground off the present-day site of Cap Haitien, Haiti on December 25, 1492, and was lost. Realizing that the ship was beyond repair, Columbus ordered his men to strip the timbers from the ship. The timbers from the ship were later used to build Môle Saint-Nicolas, which was originally called La Navidad (Christmas) because the wreck occurred on Christmas Day. Thank you Maria for this nice historical card.

France - Painting

A lovely painting By Julian Taylor. Thanks a lot Maria.

Portugal – Sailing

Cátia sent me this nice card showing people enjoying sailing in the seas of Azores.