MARIGOT–Caribbean Sail Training Association (CST) declared Sunday’s “Sail St. Martin” Open Ship Day a great success with 1, 350 persons taking the opportunity to visit three Tall Ships docked at the pier in Galis Bay commercial port.
In port were 65-metre (200ft) sail training vessel Alexander von Humboldt II, the 56- metre (170ft) Fryderyk Chopin, as well as the 62-metre (196ft) Wylde Swan. Each vessel offered tours on board from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm.
During a reception later on the Wylde Swan President of CST Jan Roosens thanked his board members, volunteers and the port staff for making it a memorable day.
“We are planning to do this again in two years and who knows, with even more tall ships,” he said.
During the reception Wylde Swan captain Fosse Fortuin presented Port Director Albéric Ellis with the Caribbean Sail Training Association Port Award for the second time.
The port was cited as “being the most friendly host port” for sail-training vessels during the past two seasons.
Ellis was joined by three key members of his staff; Secretaries Nadia Gumbs-Williams, Suzie Brooks-Calvaire and statistician Ramon Baray.
“This is the team who did all the work today, along with the CST members, said Ellis. “We recognise the importance of these vessels to St. Martin, so it’s always a pleasure to say yes to Jan when they come here. We do not charge for the services we offer and in return we request an open day for the population and especially youngsters to visit these magnificent ships.
“By 10:30am we already had 300 visitors and that quickly climbed to 1,350 by the end of the day, so it was definitely a success. We do hope to attract more of these ships in the future but I cannot guarantee we will be able to receive 15 of these ships in two years from now.
“But I can guarantee we will be doing this open day again in two years. We do have development plans and in these plans we will be accommodating these vessels and more in the future,” Ellis concluded.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/63438-1-350-people-visited-three-tall-ships-during-open-day
View comments
Hide comments