An impressive sailing ship is due to dock in Plymouth this week before setting off on a 40,000 nautical mile journey recreating Charles Darwin’s famous voyage of scientific discovery. Almost two centuries after the famous scientist boarded HMS Beagle in Plymouth to explore and document the natural world, the planetary conservation mission DARWIN200 is following in his wake aboard the historic tall ship Oosterschelde.
The Dutch vessel is expected to arrive in Britain’s Ocean City on Friday afternoon, August 11, at about 4pm. It will tie up at Sutton Harbour and the public can book an appointment to visit the Oosterschelde, meet the DARWIN200 crew and explore the ship between Saturday, August 12, and Monday, August. 14.
Friends of the DARWIN200 project will attend a send-off party at The National Marine Aquarium on August 13 and at 8am on Tuesday, August 15, the public are invited to wave goodbye from Sutton Harbour as Oosterschelde begins her two-year 40,000 nautical mile voyage, stopping first at Tenerife, in Spain, and then heading to Brazil. Over the next two years it will visit Uruguay, Argentina, the Falkland Islands, Chile, Ecuador, Easter Island, Tahiti, Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Ascension Island, the Azores - and will conclude its mission back in the UK, in Falmouth, Cornwall.
Sailing the ship between ports will be a mix of adventure travellers and environmental researchers, who will be tasked with steering, navigating and manning the ropes of the three-masted topsail schooner under the guidance of a professional crew. Along the way they’ll document ocean plastics and coral reef health, and undertake surveys of seabirds, whales and dolphins.
The data collected will form part of a citizen-science outreach project and students and members of the public will be able to join in weekly interactive “nature hour” sessions beamed live from the ship. Oosterschelde will drop anchor in 32 ports across four continents where exceptional young environmentalists, known as DARWIN200 Leaders, selected from around the world to take part, will join the ship.
Oosterschelde is a three mast tall ship, and one of the world’s finest, fully restored historic tall ships and the largest sailing vessel ever restored in the Netherlands. She is registered by the Dutch Government as a monument of great cultural and historical value.
The ship is one of the oldest and most authentic ships in the international fleet of tall ships and was relaunched after a major refurbishment in 1996, recommissioned by Princess Margriet of The Netherlands.
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