8 months on the ocean: the trade route

Sailing vessel Tres Hombres is on its way to Amsterdam after a nearly 8-month trading voyage around the Atlantic. Just as the sailing habit in the 18th century, the ship will first arrive at the Texel. In Den Helder is a part of her cargo will be unloaded. Then Monday she will continue to sail the old VOC  route to Enkhuizen harbor and Tuesday to Amsterdam. Wednesday, June 6th is the official arrival at Het Scheepvaartmuseum in Amsterdam.

The journey began last October in Den Helder. The first ports where the ship passed were in Europe: Brixham, Brest and Porto. For loading and unloading of Ale, Wine and olive oil, but above all to pass on the positive message of sailing freight. After Porto, they set sail towards Madeira and the Cape Verde Islands, and crossed the Atlantic to Barbados. In the Caribbean, they sailed a few months, to pick up the famous Tres Hombres rum (12 years old) from the Dominican Republic, and organic chocolate from Grenada. On the journey back to Europe, they passed in the Azores to load tea. The last weeks the ship and crew where confronted with calms and headwinds in the English Channel and the North Sea, which made the journey a bigger challenge in time and planning. The results of not having n engine, but making a strong statement this way.

This trade mission was, as in the old days of the VOC period, funded by individual investors. Thus the captain says there will be many opportunities coming up now for new investors in the next trade mission.

The Tres Hombres is the flagship of the Atlantis Sailing Foundation. An institution to public benefit, with the aim of promoting commercial sailing vessels in the broadest sense of the word. She does this by providing information about the conventional freight shipping, pollution and the alternatives. Furthermore, by maintaining existing sailing traditions: vessels like the Tres Hombres. And developing innovative modern sailing freighters: the Fair Transport Ecoliners . The Foundation also manages the Fair Atlantis transport label for clean and fair transport.Wind power used for international freight is making a “come back”;