Kalmar Nykel Arrives In Lewes

A little while ago the Kalmar Nykel was spotted in front of Cape Henlopen State park at Herring Point beach by Cindy Shorey.  She (the ship) will arrive in port in Lewes next to the Ferry Terminal.  Tours start on Saturday August 13th until September 5th, I am sure they are arriving early to get her all shined up for visitors.  If you haven’t taken a tour on Delaware’s tall ship you should check it out.   You can also take a sailing tour or cruise, they have a variety of tours and you can learn about life on a tall ship.

This is another sign that summer is winding down.  When the Kalmar Nykel sails around the area you can always spot her off the point at Cape Henlopen State Park for the few days she is still here in September.  Then she will sail north to port in Wilmington, so you can always catch a tour up there as well.

From the Kalmar Nykel Website … “The original Kalmar Nyckel served as Governor Peter Minuit’s flagship for the 1638 expedition that founded the colony of New Sweden, establishing the first permanent European settlement in the Delaware Valley, Fort Christina, in present-day Wilmington, Delaware. She would make a total of four roundtrip crossings of the Atlantic, more than any other documented ship of the American colonial era.

The original ship — a new type of gun-armed merchant vessel called a Dutch Pinnace — was built by the Dutch in Amsterdam in about the year 1625. She was purchased in 1629 by a Swedish consortium to serve as an auxiliary warship for the Swedish navy, which she did until her decommissioning in 1651 — except for the years from 1637 to 1644 when she sailed the Atlantic for the New Sweden Company. An exceptional ship with a long and remarkable career, she was sold to a private merchant after being decommissioned from the navy. No completely definitive records have been uncovered as of yet, but Kalmar Nyckel was probably resold to the Dutch navy as an escort vessel and sunk in the North Sea while fighting for the Dutch in a war against the English in 1652.”

If you get the time drop by the Lewes-Cape May Ferry terminal and check out Delaware’s tall ship, the Kalmar Nykel.

Fish On!!

Rich King