The three-masted schooner Spirit of Bermuda slid into the calm waters of Rockport Harbor Aug. 13, while the sun shone and a crowd cheered. The vessel seemed to lurch forward into the water, as though eager to start sailing, and that caused brief consternation among those in charge of the launching.
A few days earlier Spirit had been carefully trucked through the village and across the Goose River to the town landing, minus some lead ballast. Rockport Marine, where the vessel was built over the past couple of years, is on the waterfront but lacks the means to launch an 83-foot vessel on site.
The purpose of Spirit is to give the youth of its namesake island an ocean experience, something its sponsors believe will teach them valuable lifelong lessons. The Bermuda Sloop Foundation is sponsor of the Spirit project, which hinges on both government and corporate generosity. The foundation’s leaders see sail training of youth ages 14-20 as nothing less than a way to help preserve their island’s culture and economy. Bermuda is increasingly a home to wealthy retired people.
“I see this as a golden opportunity for young people, regardless of economic circumstances and racial background, to really build a nation…kids will in the confines of a ship learn about working as a team,” declared Dale Butler, a government minister in Bermuda.
Even though SPIRIT has three masts, Bermudians call her a sloop. Her lines are taken from a traditional Caribbean vessel, but with gleaming varnished trim and transom, Spirit is definitely a yacht.
Ralph Richardson, executive director of the charitable ACE Foundation in Bermuda, said he was looking forward to having a sail aboard Spirit but in the end, “it’s all about the kids.”
The Spirit will cost an estimated $5.7 million when the bills are paid. She was expected to set sail from Rockport for Hamilton, Bermuda in late September, and to start taking two dozen young people on week-long cruises in October.