The tall ships are moored up for a stunning festival on Hobart harbour until wednesday this week (25th Sept).
Open for everyone to walk on, it is splendid to stand under the sails and imagine the boat cruising the open ocean with the sails unfurled.
The hundreds and hundreds of ropes and cables show how tricky it could be to sail one of these boats, crewed by a combination of about 14-20 crew and up to 50 amateur sailors on every trip.
But what excited me this weekend was standing on board one of these boats, The Bark Europa and seeing the number of over 60s queued up to enquire about sailing on their upcoming leg from Tasmania to Sydney Harbour then on to the Auckland Regatta.
It seems travel by tall ship is entirely accessible and much-sought out by our older generation. So we took the time today to look into the tall ship travel options and how over 60s can get involved.
The 1911, 183 foot Bark Europa is sailing for Sydney this week, in a flotilla of tall ships that sounds rather amazing!
They will travel with the other ships on display in Hobart, including the Lady Nelson, Lord Nelson, Soren Larsen, Windeward Bound, Oosterschelde, Young Endeavour and Tecla. Each ship has its own itinerary for the year, selling tickets to sailors of all sizes and ages.
For instance, after the Europa reaches Auckland, a new batch of sailors join the ship to tackle every sailor’s dream of rounding Cape Horn on their round the world sailing adventure from Auckland to the Falklands. Weeks later the ship sets sail for the Antarctic.
Its not cheap, but you wouldn’t expect this dream like experience to even exist let alone come at a small price, with a one way ticket from Auckland to the Falklands on the Cape Horn Voyage starting at EUR5950 or the trip from The Falklands to the Antarctic starting at EUR7950. Or for those with a smaller sailing ambition, you can join the ship and sail from Sydney to Auckland from a little over EUR2000.
Everyone is welcome to take the helm, set sail and help with manoeuvres of the tall ships with the permanent crew giving lectures and instructions in a friendly way, and bringing to the fore the true meaning of team work. With a library, lounge, poker corner and deckhouse there is plenty of ways to make your cross-ocean voyage a memorable and leisure filled one.
On the Bark Europa guests are asked to contribute to the “watch”, taking a turn for four hours a day before resting for eight hours, if they are physically able. All part of the experience I say. For more information, visit the Bark Europa website or the website of any of the tall ships listed above.
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