The school ship ‘Georg Stage’ drops anchor in Bilbao: “It’s like the Pirates of the Caribbean”
«Hundreds of people visit the ship anchored in the Bilbao estuary and open to the public until Friday
“When I grow up I want to live on one of these boats”, commented Jon with wide open eyes, The little boy, 10 years old, had been waiting all day to enter the training ship ‘Georg Stage’, which since yesterday remained anchored in the dock of the Itsasmuseum and the experience did not disappoint. “He is crazy,” his mistress admitted after visiting the Danish ship. And the thing is that for him, the frigate is the same as the one in the famous movie saga ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. Like Jon, yet another centenarian queued to board the ship.
The ‘Georg Stage’ arrived at the Bilbao estuary from Dublin at noon under the watchful eye of numerous onlookers who came to the Maritime Museum. It was the first time that the historic ship -the first training ship in Europe- docked in the Biscayan capital. With a crew made up of 73 people -63 students and 10 expert teachers- the ship docked at the dock and in the afternoon launched the gangway to land so that anyone who wanted to visit it could enjoy “a different experience”.
Marta Domínguez went with her two children so that the children could see “what the ships in the movies are like inside” and they had the opportunity to experience something unusual. The same thought Sergio and his girlfriend, who had come from Seville to spend five days of vacation in Bilbao. It was at the hotel that they learned of the arrival of the ship and they did not want to miss the opportunity to meet him. “It’s impressive,” the boy admitted. “We had never seen a boat like this, and I don’t think one of these will enter Andalusia either.”
When Marina and her two friends saw the boat crossing the estuary, they knew they had to go visit it. “We saw him enter from Zorrozaurre in the morning and we thought it would be a different plan than doing these days,” she explained. Both she and her gang are on vacation until the doors of the university open again. So they were looking for “something new to do.” “I liked it a lot, but I couldn’t live inside it like them for so long,” admitted Marina.
Marcos, on the other hand, wouldn’t mind trying. “It has to be a unique experience living on the high seas,” he said, although he finds it “something incredible” that so many young people today enroll in this type of boat. “I don’t see my children in a few years working on a ship. Here that seafaring tradition ended a long time ago », he thought.
The passion made office
The 63 students embarked on the ‘Georg Stage’ live together for 20 weeks to obtain the degree and work in the Danish merchant marine. “It’s hard on a professional level, but also socially. In the end, we lived together for many days in a 53 meter long boat”, explained Lukas Strate, one of the students. The 20-year-old wants to follow the family tradition and work at sea. In addition, he assured, in Denmark there is a lot of work as a sailor. “It’s a good way to make a living doing something I like,” he noted.
Anne-Sofie Brunhoj, 20, is one of Lukas’ adventure companions, and like him, she is also happy with her time on the training ship. “I’m learning a lot and not only about sailing, but also about how hard life is at sea,” acknowledged the girl, delighted to pass through Bilbao to visit the Guggenheim and taste “the famous pintxos.”
The boat will be anchored to the Itsasmuseum dock until this Friday to join the agenda of boats of “great cultural interest” offered by the museum. “Being here I can offer a different lesson to the students about the Basque maritime tradition,” explained the captain, Bjarke Whalquist.