A couple hundred people lined up in Canal Park Saturday afternoon for their turn to explore the Tall Ships Festival’s closest thing to a pirate ship the Spanish El Galeon Andalucia.
El Galeon crew member Jose Manuel of Seville, Spain, said sometimes he feels like a real-life pirate.
“Here sometimes we go without shoes,” he said of the crew. “We are a little bit gypsy.”
The Tall Ships Festival wraps up today, but it is not the last chance to see El Galeon. The ship will be parked in Canal Park for a few extra days.
“All the people that can’t come this weekend have another chance Monday and Tuesday,” Manuel said.
El Galeon is a replica of a 16th-17th century galleon ship designed for establishing trade routes between Spain, America and the Philippine Islands. At 500 tons, El Galeon is 170 feet long, 32 feet at its widest point, has four masts and six sails. There are 21 crew members.
Manuel, an El Galeon crew member for a year and a half, said he loves the variety life on a ship provides.
“Every day is totally different,” he said. “We don’t have one day similar.”
El Galeon is the first Spanish boat to sail on each of the Great Lakes, Manuel said, a source of pride for the crew.
“I was enjoying checking all the islands,” he said of the journey to Duluth. “I don’t normally see landscapes like that.”
Manuel said one of the ship’s goals while traveling is to teach people about Spanish history and the history of the ship. For example, the gun deck, one of the boat’s lower levels, is set up like a museum with informative signs describing the ship’s history in English and Spanish.
As someone who has a teaching degree, Manuel said sharing Spanish history is his favorite part of stopping at festivals.
Challie West, of Virginia, is the only American on El Galeon’s crew. Before joining the ship about eight weeks ago, she said she was working on harbor boats. West said working El Galeon is unlike anything she has done before.
“This boat needs particular winds. It needs 15 to 20 knots in order for us to sail,” West said, adding that they end up using the engines often.
The crew is made up of the captain, deckhands, officers, land crew and office workers, West said. Although each crew member may have a different position, everyone has shared responsibilities.
“Everyone does the engine checks. Everyone does the watch,” she said.
West said it was a quick learning curve working aboard the ship, but she has enjoyed learning nautical skills. She said the most challenging part of her job is the language barrier everyone else is from Spain. The feeling of sailing outweighs any exhaustion that comes from the physical work, she said.
“I get this really calm feeling as soon as we’re underway,” West said. “My world feels really small and I can handle it.”
Jennifer and Phyllis Sherman, of St. Paul, explored the ship Saturday afternoon. Jennifer said she has harbored an interest for military history since age 10. Jennifer and her mom, Phyllis, have been to two previous Duluth Tall Ships Festivals where they went on the U.S. Brig Niagara and Pride of Baltimore II. They have been to a ship festival in New Jersey as well, Jennifer said.
“But we haven’t been on a galleon,” Phyllis said.
“She’s beautiful,” Jennifer said of the ship. “There’s something about the look of the rigging. … It’s that sense of living history.”
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Source: Duluth News Tribune
