First thing to catch the eye was the masts, which can be seen long before you reach port, in a hazy silhouette against the Solomon's summer sky. Resting at dockside, her colors pop against the brown water, dry dock, and weathered white crab trollers. Nautical blue over patriot red. Flags of her forefathers dance atop each mast. Swaying restful and proud at the stern, a humble garrison. Cannons peak out from the shadows of their gunports. A welcome breeze teases the hand sewn oceanus tucked away against their masts. At closer glance, there's no shortage of embellishment, mostly of a cartoonish canine variety. While the significance of the dogs throughout her deck and along her hull is unclear, is was common for ships to sport their individuality through ornamentation. I will be happy to go on believing in a pilgrim crew of dog lovers. The volunteer crew is busy about the deck and shrouds, readying the tall ship for the short sail with ticket holder later that day.
While she's not the very same Kalmar Nyckel of 1638, who's settlers claimed the Delaware Valley, New Sweden, the replication is impeccable, and in nostalgically working order, right down to the grey cat sleeping in the Captain's quarters. Her story is being told in stations as you circle round the deck taking in the heights, the ropes, the finely matched douglas fir and white cedar, all held fast by hand forged hardware. She birthed 22 original passengers across the wintery Atlantic, and from first you step aboard, it isn't hard to imagine the day to day must have been throughout the limited deck space and imaginatively confined hull space. The hull we did not tour, most probably because it is currently the living quarters for the live-in crew. The imagination could be left to run wild, but the walkable is short lived.
Should the sailing bug bite you, the Kalmar Nyckel holds training sessions in the winter and summer. This would have been my kind of summer job, were I not so attached to my own dogs. Should you need a tall ship for your upcoming swashbuckler, the Kalmar Nyckel is available for film production.
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