our beloved SV Concordia sinks !!!

I was absolutely stunned when I logged onto the Canadian Broadcasting Corp news site this morning and saw that the tall ship SV Concordia had gone down in a big storm.  For those of you who don’t know the Concordia, it is a 200ft tall ship that sails around the world with 45 grade 11 and 12 students aboard – mostly from Canada.  Yvonne and I taught/sailed on the ship for 11 months in 1999/2000.  In March 2000 (almost 10 yrs to the month) we sailed across the Atlantic (from Namibia, ironically) to Brazil.  That is where the ship sunk today – 500km off the coast – a place we had sailed very close to.  This was our home for almost a year, and represents probably the most remarkable year I have ever lived.

I am SO relieved but honestly surprised that everyone made it out alive.  We did regularly practice abandon ship drills, but it was always calm.  If the ship had capsized, all hell would have broken loose, and it is remarkable that they managed to all make it into the life rafts.  I recall vividly the placement of these rafts, and always wondered what would happen if push came to shove.

We know very well the man who is quoted in the news – Terry Davies created the Class Afloat program and was the one who hired us. He was Yvonne’s principal at West Island College.  He had to live hours of his life not knowing what happened to the students, teachers and crew and had to tell parents that the ship had gone down.  This ship program represents his life’s work.  He no doubt aged 10 yrs last night.

We also feel so badly for the students and teachers who have had their remarkable voyage cut short.  They will likely now finish their academic year in Lunenburg at the school’s land base.  It is a rigorous academic program, so completion will be paramount or students loose an entire year.  Some of the students just joined the ship in January .  We feel terribly for the professional crew (most from Poland) who now are without work.  They did a remarkable job keeping everyone alive, I believe.

We’ve attached a few photos from our time aboard the ship.  Every 5 yrs the ship circumnavigates the globe, and we were lucky to be on that year.  I took the photos of the ship from one of the small tender craft as we sailed to the Solomon Islands in the Pacific.

Since seeing the news we have since heard from a number of you – thanks for your thoughts.  This program changed the lives of hundreds (thousands?) of students and teachers – including ourselves.  It is a very sad day.

Cam

this beautfiful ship is at the bottom of the ocean

Concordia with all sails set mid Pacific ocean

taken from the “dolphin striker”

this was our route in 1999/2000. Yellow Aug to Dec Red Jan to June

this was our pro crew. Captains in center

the “bridge”. Can you imagine the stress/panic yesterday?

Cam & Yvonne aboard the SV Concordia 2000

Cam teaching math in the “mess” (dining hall)

Yvonne teaching math

Cam relaxing aboard the Concordia