Hoist the Sails!
Dockyard's new schooner is an icon of Bermuda's sea-going prowess

By Malcom Kirkland

Bermuda and the sea are nearly inseparable. Bermudians, in fact, long have been renowned for their shipbuilding skills. This year you can see why, as the Royal Naval Dockyard welcomes Spirit of Bermuda, a replica of the famous schooners built here from 1810 to 1840.

Bermuda's early settlers made the most of the sea that surrounded them. Soon they had earned worldwide acclaim as highly accomplished shipbuilders and sailors of a distinctive island craft, the Bermuda sloop.

Two-thirds of Bermuda-built vessels were sold abroad. The French favoured them, the British Royal Navy relied on them and the United States used them to protect the fledgling country's coast. Bermuda kept the remaining third of its unique vessels, using them to trade throughout the Atlantic and beyond.

In the 19th century, British military forces ran fast-dispatch patrol vessels built in Bermuda north to Halifax in Canada and southwest to Jamaica as they attempted to monitor and contain U.S. and French forces.

Later, after those antagonisms had ended, the Royal Navy used Bermuda-built sloops to crack down on the slave trade, chasing slave ships in the Caribbean and West Africa. The most famous of those vessels was the Pickle III. Such speedy vessels incorporated the triangular "Bermuda rig" sail of small coastal sloops on large blue-water vessels.

At its new Dockyard home, Spirit of Bermuda provides world-class experiential learning, both academic and technical, for crews of young Bermudians, charter groups, and history-loving islanders and tourists alike.

The Bermuda Sloop Foundation is a public/private collaboration. A registered Bermuda charity, it is 501(c)(3)-eligible. For more information, visit bermudasloop.org.

Read more about Bermuda's tours and attractions in Sightseeing, or get a quick listing of activities to help you Experience Bermuda.

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