The two days are co-sponsored by the Caribbean Sail Training Association.
The 32 meters (90 ft) long vessel will come through the 5. 30 pm Simpson Bay Bridge on February the 7th and moor alongside the Sint Maarten Yacht Club dock.
The Spinacker bar at the Sint Maarten Yacht Club will once again be filled to capacity with club members and visiting tourists to see this square rigged vessel coming into the lagoon.
Mega and other yachts anchored and at Ile De Sol and other docks are encouraged to blow their horns to welcome the sail training vessel as they have done several times before on special occasions with visiting vessels.
The Tres Hombres will be accompanied by several dinghies as the ship has no built in engine.
The Tres Hombres will be open to visit on Wednesday February 8th from 10.00 am until the evening hours for all members of the club, invited guests and the local press.
The next day, Thursday February 9th , the vessel will be open for school visits from 9.00 am until 17.00 pm.
The Sint Maarten Yacht Club will organize a raffle so that visitors can buy tickets to win one of the six available spaces on board the Tres Hombres to sail along on Friday February 10th and experience square rigged sailing first hand.
50 % of the raffle ticket sales will go to the vessel to pay for costs and the other 50% will go to the yacht club's youth sailing program.
The 32 meter schooner brig "Tres Hombres" is in service since December 2009.
She maintains a freight service between: Europe, the Atlantic islands, the Caribbean and America. Besides a cargo capacity of 35 tons, she has accommodation for 5 crew members and 10 trainees.
After a stunning fast voyage over the Atlantic Ocean the vessel arrived first in Bridgetown Barbados.
From there they sailed to Tobago and arrived in St.Martin Grand Case Saturday.
This pure wind driven ship is, next to being a sail training vessel, the ambassador for a new generation of sustainable cargo ships, a representative for fair trading and an advocate for education close to nature.
During her stay at the St.Maarten Yacht Club Dock, her Captain Jorne Langelaan, will also give a presentation on board about Fair Transport and the future of global trading, using modern hybrid sailing cargo ships.
The crew of the vessel will be engaged in promoting the ideas around traditional sailing and giving an example for a sustainable future.
The ship is operated by a nonprofit organization, the Atlantis foundation in the Netherlands, with as goal to give a statement for clean shipping and fair trading.
S/V Tres Hombres is worlds only cargo ship engaged in international trade, not propelled by mechanical means, operating since 2009. Apart from being an ambassador for sustainability and fairtransport, the ship is being used as school ship.
Students ( trainees ) on board receive the possibility to gain experience in the field of traditional sailing and seamanship.
Currently students from 5 different nationalities are being trained.
Previous ports of call have been: Brixham, Brest, Porto, Madeira and Cabo Verde where. The ship gathered fine local goods like olive oil and wines.
Now St.Maarten is the first island in the Northern Caribbean to enjoy those specialties with the lowest carbon footprint possible.
Coming destinations include: St.Martin, Bonaire, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Grenada, New York, Azores, England and Belgium.
Local companies and individuals that have packages or good for one of those Islands or countries are invited to ship their cargo to any of these ports with the Tres Hombres. Not only saving on their carbon footprint, but also marketing their products by giving the good example.
PORT & LAND APPROX. DATES OF DISCHARGE LOADING
Marigot (St. Martin) Feb. 10 2012 Feb. 11 2012
Kralendijk (Bonaire) Feb. 14 2012 Feb. 14 2012
Willemstad (Curacao) Feb. 17 2012 Feb. 18 2012
Boca Chica (Dominican rep.)Feb. 25 2012 Feb. 26 2012
St. Georges (Grenada) Mar. 8 2012 Mar. 9 2012
New York (United States) Apr. 1 2012 Apr. 2 2012
São Miguel (Azores) May 1 2012 May 2 2012
Portsmouth (United kingdom) May 18 2012 May 19 2012
Oostende (Belgium) May 26 2012 May 27 2012
Den Helder (Netherlands) Jun 1 2012
