Today, on the 207th anniversary of Lord Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar, the Jubilee Sailing Trust‘s 55-meter three masted barque, Lord Nelson, sets sail from Southhampton, UK on a 23-month 50,000 mile journey around the world. The ship will visit more than 30 countries on all seven continents and cross the equator four times during the voyage.
The Lord Nelson is the Trust’s flagship and the first sailing ship specifically built to allow physically-disabled and able-bodied sailors to sail side-by-side. The ship is equipped with wheelchair lifts, Braille instructions, joystick steering and a talking compass. The ship’s professional crew is also specially trained in working with people of all physical and sensory abilities in engaging in watch keeping and ship handling.
Brilliant!
Wouldn’t it have been great if the Cutty Sark could have accompanied her along the way… It was clearly once a possibility: the money wasted on her incarceration in Greenwich would, surely, have put her back afloat…
I went to Greenwich (to the museum) and passed the old ship by. All that could be seen was a huge glass bubble with a bunch of masts sticking out of it! I felt so saddened.