Nao Trinidad to port in Boothbay Harbor
Though the 2022 Windjammer Days were over months ago, expect one final blast of wind in your sails come early next month. Spanish Tall Ship Nao Trinidad will port in Boothbay Harbor sometime between Oct. 6 and 12. The ship returns to the East Coast from its Great Lakes summer circuit which began in Lake Superior at Two Harbors, Minnesota.
Nao Trinidad’s voyage also included Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan before moving on to Midland, Ontario across Lake Huron. She stopped off in Detroit, Sandusky, Ohio; Cleveland; and Erie, Pennsylvania while crossing Lake Erie and then Rochester, New York while crossing Lake Ontario. Stops up through the St. Lawrence Seaway and around Nova Scotia included Brockville, Ontario; Rimouski, Quebec; and Gaspé, Quebec. The ship is en route to or at port in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the last stop before Boothbay Harbor.
The ship’s captain contacted Mark Gimbel to set up dockage for a few days before moving on to Portland. Said Gimbel, “While the ship is in town they will run public deck tours. Stay tuned for more details and exact location of the vessel.”
According to Nao Trinidad’s website, the ship is a 200-ton, 95’ long replica of Ferdinand Magellan’s Armada del Maluco with the original four masts, five sails and five decks. The ship was commissioned by Fundación Nao Victoria in 2019, 500 years after the original was built. Nao’s Great Lakes circuit coincided with the 500th anniversary of the original’s sinking in Indonesia.
Fundación Nao Victoria, a nonprofit based in Seville, Spain, builds replicas of the country’s historical Galleon ships. Other ships include Nao Victoria, El Galeón and Nao Santa Maria and all have sailed the world to promote their histories. The Nao Santa Maria has ported in Boothbay Harbor twice in recent years.
“The vessels are a powerful, unique and very attractive marketing and educational platform that have been used successfully to support great world events during the last decade,” says the ship’s website. “Our vessels have taken part in national and international expositions and events with great media exposure and publicity (serving) as a powerful platform to disseminate and exhibit contents (and) functioning as a great reach beacon (with) unique, innovative elements and a strong appeal both sailing and in-port.”
After the ship stops in Portland, it will move on to Plymouth, Massachusetts; Bristol, Rhode Island; Greenport, New York; Wilmington, North Carolina; and St. Augustine, Florida before ending its voyage in San Juan, Puerto Rico before winter sets in.