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Dear George,
It seems you are right: these are the only two remaining 4-masted barques,
at least in the European waters.
In Japan, there are also 4-masted barques Kaivo Maru and Nippon Maru
Kruzenshtern used to be Padua and
Sedov was Commodor Jonsen, both German.
Both of them are used for training purposes and for cruises.
But if you can be satisfied with a 3-masted tall square rigged ship,
your choice is much larger.

(As I go to Kiel every summer, I usually see all of them plus
hundreds of others from my window during the so-called Kielerwoche,
which is a great week-long event in Kiel happening every June.
During this event, you can visit all these ships and/or have a day sailing
trip. But for the largest ones, advanced reservation is recommended,
VERY much in advance). Most
of them also offer cruises. I am sure it is easy to find them
on the web using google and the ship name. But if you have problem,
I will be glad to do this for you. Currently I only have
Khersones schedule, aand it is out of date. Khersones is a Ukrainian
3-masted toll square rigged ship).

In general, my impression is that most sailing cruises are done from the
Netherlands. I see plenty of 2-3 mast Dutch schooners (and even one brig)
in the Baltic and English Channel. Personally I prefer to travel on
smaller ships
with Bermuda or gaff rig, because the square rigged ships go most of the
time under motor. (And this was confirmed by the crew members with whom I
had
conversations).


Alex.




On Thu, 25 Aug 2005, george huxtable wrote:

> On Tuesday, 23 August, at about 10h GMT, on a gorgeous clear morning, my
> wife and I were on a car ferry from Dunkerque nearing  Dover, when we saw a
> fine sight.
>
> Two four-masted barques were in close company, sailing South in a
> quartering wind, having passed South Foreland. They hadn't headed round to
> haul their wind, so presumably were not passing down the English Channel,
> but looked as though they were headed across it toward Calais or Boulogne.
> Presumably they had passed through the Downs, inside the Goodwin Sands,
> after crossing the Thames estuary. I think that the Tall Ships had made
> their annual gathering in Newcastle this year, and presumably were
> dispersing from that.
>
> One was clearly the Russian Kruschenstern, very distinctive with her
> painted ports. The other may have been the Russian Sedov, though pictures I
> have seen of Sedov, from years ago, show her with a white hull, and this
> vessel was black. Both were flying upper and lower topsails and
> topgallants, and "Sedov", which appeared to be overhauling the other, had
> her immense foresail set. Both had a spanker set, and many staysails.
>
> I think those two vessels are the only four-masted barques still at sea
> now, with the exception of a couple of modern Japanese training vessels. I
> don't think either barque was one of the Japanese trainers, though, because
> those appear to have the high-built hull of a purpose-built training
> vessel, whereas the barques in the Channel had the low-slung appearance of
> a merchant vessel. That, I think, is what Kruschenstern and Sedov both
> originally were, steel-built in Germany for the nitrate trade.
>
> The ferry passed ahead of the two barques, at a distance of less than a
> mile. They were within a cable or two of each other. They made a fine
> sight, one I don't ever expect to see again.
>
> Where was our camera? Locked away inside the car, on the car deck, to which
> access is forbidden when under way.
>
> If anyone has any further information about the planned passages of these
> Tall Ships, I would be interested to discover more.
>
> George.
> ===============================================================
> Contact George at george@huxtable.u-net.com ,or by phone +44 1865 820222,
> or from within UK 01865 820222.
> Or by post- George Huxtable, 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13
> 5HX, UK.
>

   

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