Boarding Bark Europa

I have arrived in Scheveningen, The Netherlands and have boarded the square rigged tall Ship Bark Europa and she is even more magnificent in real life than in photos.

The Bark Europa was built in 1911 on the Stülcken wharf in Hamburg, Germany. She was first named 'Senator Brockes' and in 1986 the ship was brought to the Netherlands. Eight years later, the ship was completely renovated and re-rigged.

Photo from www.barkeuropa.com

Photo from www.barkeuropa.com

At present, the homeport of the ship is Scheveningen, The Hague, The Netherlands. The ship can house 48 trainees and 16 crew members. Bark Europa is an official Sail Training Vessel, therefore due to being a training ship you will be mustered as a trainee and join in the activities on deck. This includes receiving instructions from the crew on how to sail Bark Europa and is an integral part to the experience on board.

Overall, Bark Europa is 56 m long and has a width of 7,4 m, draft of 3,9 and is 33 meter high. The maximum sail area is 1250 m2 and she has 2 x 365 pk caterpillar engines.

The first day onboard I met the crew, who have been working hard to get the ship ready for our upcoming voyage across the Atlantic Ocean towards Antarctica. Today (when writing), the whole crew learned sail handling. This involved setting- and taking away the sails by hauling- and easing lines, climbing the rigging to furl or unfurl the sails.