Photos

For Emmanuel.
On a grey and foggy Sunday morning I went to the Port of Wilmington, where the Kalmar Nyckel was being readied for a summer of sailing, a fascinating process. This ship is a three masted square rigged pinnace, a replica, built in 1997, of the original, constructed in about 1625.

When Sweden decided to launch an expedition to establish a trading colony in the New World under the direction of Peter Minuit, the Kalmar Nyckel was chosen for the voyage. It arrived in the new colony on the East Coast of North America (approximately where the Port of Wilmington now stands) in March 1638.

The Kalmar Nyckel made four successive round trips from Sweden to the East Coast. She also served the Royal Swedish Navy in the Swedish-Danish War, then was used as a merchant ship, and finally was lost at sea in the late 17th century. It's not certain whether she went down off the coast Sweden, or sank in the North Sea, off the coast of England.

In 1986, money was raised to design and build the ship at a shipyard in Wilmington on the Christina river near the original 1638 Swedish settler's landing site at Fort Christina. It was launched on September 28, 1997 and commissioned on May 9, 1998. The re-creation measures 93 feet overall with a 25 foot beam, a 12 foot draft, and displaces 300 tons.

The ship is operated and maintained by a volunteer staff, under the leadership of a paid captain, boatswain, and a chief mate. Crew is currently Captain Lauren Morgens, with Captain Sharon Litcofsky, Chief Mate/Relief Captain and Corey Young, Second Mate/Education Officer. The Foundation is now entering into its 11th season. Volunteers maintain the ship, run the education program, and sail from port to port along the East Coast every summer.