A unique tall ship is setting sail for Whitehaven.
Galeón Andalucía will dock in the town’s harbour for five days from Wednesday July 9 until Sunday July 13 – offering people a rare chance to step aboard and explore it.
The full-scale 17th century replica Spanish Galeón is unique to other tall ships, as it operates as a floating museum.
Visitors will be able to wander and take photos and videos on its decks, talk to the ship’s actual crew members, enjoy interactive exhibits, videos, projections and see historical documents onboard.
It also marks the first time in two decades that a ship of this size and calibre has visited Whitehaven.
The replica was originally built in Spain in 2009 and is modelled on the galeóns used by the Spanish during the 16th and 17th centuries. It is around 160ft or 49 metres long and weighs around 500 tonnes.
In its heyday, the real armed cargo ship would have been used for discovery expeditions and for inter-oceanic trade between Spain, America and the Philippines as part of the Fleets of the Indies.
The ship has welcomed thousands of people over the years and has previously toured around the USA, Canada and the Caribbean.
Gerard Richardson, local business owner and deputy lieutenant of Cumbria, has organised the event in partnership with Whitehaven Town Council, Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners, Sellafield Ltd and Amentum.
He has worked closely with the town council over the years to bring a wide array of events to the town.
Gerard said: “When I saw this ship, I just knew we had to do our best to bring it into Whitehaven.
“For the last 25 years we have organised these things on a fairly regular basis, but since Covid, we’ve only had one tall ship in.
“I saw this galeón had been doing some visits on the East Coast last year, so I’d dust off my old organising hat and make contact with the crew who run it. They agreed to come almost right away.
“But the last ship we had like this visit was in 2004, around 20 years ago.”
Gerard said that being able to see and explore the ship is a special opportunity – as it’s one of the biggest ships of its kind that is able to dock in Whitehaven.
He said: “It’s an exceptionally rare opportunity, there aren’t many interesting tall ships that we can fit in ports on the West Coast of Cumbria.
“Our docks are not built for these great big three and four mast square riggers from Russia, Poland and South America, so we can’t accommodate those.
“In the smaller ones, this one visiting us is the top of the tree.”
Tickets for families, friends, individuals and groups are still able to be bought online and Gerard said interest so far has been huge.
He added: “The response has been great, we’ve got a lot of school trips booked in as well. Obviously it’s something new and different and exciting and we haven’t had this type of ship here in a long time.
“I think people are used to making a £1 donation and going to the top deck of a tall ship for a photograph, but with this you’re basically floating a Tully or Beacon museum into the harbour, so you’ve got a whole new tourist attraction in the town for five days.
“This isn’t just a photograph experience, it’s a different concept altogether, so when the crew arrive they take a few hours to strip away the modern things they use for sailing and turn it into a floating dockside museum.”
The ship will open to visitors from 10am until 8.30pm at night from Wednesday July 9 until Sunday July 13.
