Where is Fair Jeanne?

The Fair Jeanne is currently laid up for the winter in Lock #4 of the Rideau Canal beside the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa.  Plans are already underway, however, for preparations to be done in the spring to get her ready to go to Halifax, Nova Scotia to take part in the American Sail Training Association's Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge which will see tall ships from all over the world in Halifax from 16-20 July, 2009.

The Fair Jeanne will make the journey east from Kingston, Ontario, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and return during the summer of 2009. The trip will leave from Kingston and stop at ports such as Montreal, Trois Rivieres, Quebec City and Rimouski. While signed aboard crew trainees will have an opportunity to meet the 4,500 young people who will be crewing in the sail training vessels from around the world.

If you have never been to a tall ships event it’s hard to imagine the forest of masts and spars crowding the piers and casting long shadows through the sun. As you walk down the wooden docks you’ll see young crew from the farthest reaches of the globe; you’ll hear all the accents and languages and experience the feeling of excitement when hundreds of cultures mix together through a common interest. Ships you’ve seen in calendars or read about in books willcome to life- you’ll meet their crew, exchange crew shirts or hats and talk about your lives both on and off your ships. As evening approaches you may find yourself on the deck of a foreign ship, watching fireworks on the course yard with a group of new friends from 10 different countries. Afterwards you’ll talk for hours over “tea” eating strange things like Marmite on toast. Perhaps you may even challenge a Brazilian crew to a soccer match, and end up in a tournament facing off against an Italian crew. If you’ve never been to the Olympics, Tall Ships 2009 in Halifax is the Olympics if you’re a sailor. It’s so much more than sailing, than the raciness (which are adventures in themselves). It’s a chance to meet like-minded young people from across the world- for a few short nights they’ll all be in one spot. It doesn’t get any better than that for a tall ship sailor- the memories created there will last an entire life time.

You will not only have the opportunity to sail into Halifax harbour, but you will have the chance to cross the gangways of many of the majestic vessels. While you are on watch you will have the opportunity to act as an ambassador to Canada’s crews and visitors from around the world cross the deck to get a closer look at the 110 foot tall ship that is registered in Canada’s Capital.

Find out how you can take part in this once in a lifetime experience aboard the STV Fair Jeanne, call the office at 613–596–6258 or visit the registration section of this web site.