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The picturesque quayside at Wells-next-the-Sea has taken on a look from the past with the return after three and a half years of Albatros, a century-old Dutch sailing clipper.
Built at Rotterdam in 1899, Albatros was the last sailing vessel in Europe to carry commercial cargoes. From 1990 she was a regular visitor to Wells, shipping soya beans across the North Sea from Belgium for a Norfolk-based firm of agricultural merchants. That work came to an end in 1996 when new regulations on the importation of grain were introduced in Britain.
Albatros was then chartered to Greenpeace, plying the Dutch and Belgian coasts and major inland waterways as a floating environmental studies centre for schoolchildren. Now the Greenpeace charter has ended and the vessel has returned to a warm welcome at Wells, which residents regard as her home port.
Owner/Skipper Ton Brouwer and local maritime interests are working together on a scheme in which Albatros will be the focus of a programme of sail training for young people and adults, leadership and team-building projects, and business conferences and seminars.
Steel-hulled and 40 metres long, with auxiliary power provided by a 160-horsepower diesel engine, the ship underwent a £100,000 refit as a passenger vessel when her grain-carrying days came to an end.
Ton Brouwer has considerable experience in combining seafaring with education. A linguistics expert, he taught German language and literature to Dutch high school students before qualifying as a professional ship’s master in 1981. "I first started sailing in the 1970s, in big sailing barges," says Ton, "and I have an extra qualification to command sailing vessels."
When Albatros was carrying grain, the German penal service entrusted young offenders to Ton’s care on voyages across the North Sea. "Crewing under sail, especially in a large vessel like Albatros, certainly helps to build character," Ton adds.
The people of Wells are delighted to see "their" ship back on the quayside and efforts are being made to set up a foundation to support the new plans.
"Albatros was a regular feature here during the 1990s," says Wells Harbourmaster, Graham Walker, "and we all missed her when she went away. It’s wonderful to have her back."
For information on Albatros, telephone Ton Brouwer on 0031 653 148276.
Historical footnote: During World War II Albatros belonged to a Danish Captain Rasmussen, who shipped grain from Denmark to neutral Sweden, returning with cargoes of building materials. Captain Rasmussen and his Mate had a reputation, especially among the occupying German forces in Denmark, as a couple of jolly sailors with a fondness for booze and an easy life. After the war it was revealed that Jewish refugees and others escaping from the Nazis were hidden among the cargoes of grain, while the innocent-looking building materials from Sweden concealed arms for the Danish Resistance.
