Contact

Postal address:
Rederij Bark EUROPA
P.O. Box 23183
NL-3001 KD Rotterdam
The Netherlands

Email: info@barkeuropa.com
Tel.: +31 10-281 0990
Fax: +31 10-281 0991

1104 Newsletter Bark EUROPA April 2011

We are pleased to send you the latest issue of our newsletter. This time we call out to all youngsters. There still are berths available for the coming Tall Ship Races in July and August 2011. If you are aged between 15 and 25 years we have a special offer for you. You can also read about applying for sponsorship. Our next item is an update on the festivities around the centennial celebrations. Meanwhile the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute has awarded Captain Klaas a medal for outstanding duty at sea. Further along you can read more about the current voyage of the ship. As final topic we bring you a little in sight on the preparations regarding the short wharf period in Cape Town this week. Enjoy reading!

Fantastic Summer Holiday
Join the Adventure! Enjoy real Tall Ship sailing coming summer on the Bark EUROPA. If you are between 15 and 25 years of age we have a special offer for you! We can offer you a berth on the ship from Lerwick to Halmstad (with a stopover in Stavanger) for EUR 1495,-. Embark on this adventure and take part in 2 Race legs.

Make your voyage possible by finding sponsors to fund your voyage fee. Don’t forget the EUROPA is a Sail Training Ship and many organisations would very much like to support you as they also appreciate the value of Sail Training. Read more about sponsoring and fund raising on our website.

The EUROPA will be…..

• In Hamburg, Germany on Saturday August 13th 2011
• In Harlingen, Netherlands on Friday 19 and Saturday 20th of August 2011
• In Amsterdam, Netherlands on Tuesday August 23rd 2011
• In Scheveningen, Netherlands on Sunday September 11th 2011

In each of these ports there will be a possibility to visit the ship! Keep these dates free. A detailed programme will follow in the coming news letters and will be announced on our website.  

Bark EUROPA 100 jaar – Call out!
We call out to all (former) trainees who have been on board on a Tall Ship Race, Antarctica expedition or any ocean voyage. If you read this please inform your fellow trainees to register to our newsletter so we can keep them up to date on the Centennial Festeicities. Register on our newsletter through our home page.

Royal Medals and Barometers
April 7th last the Dutch Secretary of Infrastructure and Environment has awarded Captain Klaas Gaastra a medal for his exceptional work out at sea for the Maritime Meteorology. This Royal award ceremony was held in De Bilt, the Netherlands with the KNMI. The KNMI is the Dutch national institute for weather, climate research and seismology. This years ceremony was a very special one as this was the last one, ending a 154 year old tradition.




A close haul to Tristan da Cunha
With a lot of headwinds the ship managed to reach Tristan da Cunha this season. Starting the 52-day voyage in Ushuaia at the beginning of March 2011 the wind already started to blow from the wrong direction. All crew on board did their utmost to gain and keep speed under sail. Sadly this could not prevent a high number of motoring hours. On the way to Tristan the wind again did not work with the ship: EUROPA was exactly headed towards the wind direction. In the end the EUROPA did reach the island and a small amount of gasoil was stored to secure a good crossing to Cape Town in case of bad winds! Please follow the ship to see where she is right now.

Pinguin adopted
During the short visit to Tristan there were several hikes to be made by the voyage crew. Besides that the EUROPA adopted a Pinguin to support cleaning activities on the Island of Nightingale after a ships /oil disaster that occured about a Month ago. The Island of Nightingale belongs to the same archipelago as Tristan da Cunha and a lot of the injured and oily animals were taken to Tristan for shelter and cleaning. The adopted penguin has a name: EUROPA.



Preparations for Cape Town
Around April 20th we expect the ship to arrive in Cape Town, South Africa where she will be dry docked. During a maintenance period of one week the generator will be replaced and other technical installations will be overhauled. Next to that the work and maintenance on the rigging will be carried out. Some yards will be taken off for a couple of layers of new varnish. Several sails will be brought to the workshop to be repaired.
Preparations for this wharf period already began months ago. Everything that needs to be done has to be measured, discussed and new parts have been ordered. Our agent is busy making a schedule when all facilities of the wharf can be used. Fingers crossed everything fits in this week!

On April 29th 2011 we expect the new trainees on board for the voyage from Cape Town to Ascension Island, Horta and Waterford. Please see our sailing schedule for more voyages planned.