This Is My Ship

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOi6Ank6sXY

Williamstown will turn back the clock more than 100 years with a big fleet of tall ships to arrive in September.

The city’s piers will come alive with the sounds of flapping of flags and rigging in the breeze, the lapping of waves against the vessels and sea shanties celebrating the age of sail.

Eight tall ships — including four foreign vessels — will form the biggest fleet of tall ships to sail into Williamstown in nearly 100 years. They will take part in the Melbourne International Tall Ships Festival organised by the Seaworks Foundation, Tall Ships Victoria, the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, Australian Sail Training Association and Sail Training International.

Most of the ships will be berthed at Seaworks, a developing maritime precinct in Nelson Place. The visiting ships include the Oosterschelde, Europa and Tecla from the Netherlands, the Lord Nelson, from England. They will be joined by the Royal Australian Navy’s sail training vessel, the Young Endeavour, the Windeward Bound, the Soren Larson, the Enterprize and the One and All.

Tall Ships have long been connected to the very early stories of exploration and remain an integral part of our worlds history.

The tradition and age-old convention of manually setting sails in order to be propelled through the worlds waters coincide with stories of success’, failure and folklore.

Today, curiosity still heightens when these traditional and eye-catching vessels navigate the oceans as they remain an interesting symbol of adventuring and the characters they represent.

So sailing with the Oosterschelde is especially significant because of the stories and sciences the "three masted topsail schooner" embodies.

To gain a first hand account of the complexities, vagaries and specifics of sailing a tall ship on the Oosterschelde is both a liberating and therapeutic experience. Built in 1918 as a sail-powered freighter, she is currently scurrying the shores of Australia as she wanders the oceans following the old trade routes of historic times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCm7buPBO0Y