Schooner Virginia to visit Brunswick
St. Marys Tall Ship Alliance in cooperation with the Brunswick Landing Marina are hosting the Tall Ship Virginia’s first visit to Brunswick. The Schooner Virginia will sail into Brunswick where it will be open to the public from November 15 through November 30.
Tours of the Virginia deck and public sailings will be conducted during the visit. Schedules for free tours of the deck and information for purchasing tickets for the public sailings are posted at www.smtsa.org. All schedules are subject to wind, current and weather, any updates will be posted on the website, www.smtsa.org.
Schooner Virginia is a 122-foot wooden schooner tall ship that is a modern replica of a 1916 pilot vessel of the same name. Schooner Virginia is owned and operated by the nonprofit Nauticus Foundation out of Norfolk, Virginia. Schooner Virginia offers to the public and groups the experience of sailing aboard a historical replica tall ship. Schooner Virginia will be offering free public deck tours, their youth educational program and paid public sailing aboard Schooner Virginia. Date and times are available for private group charters. Schooner Virginia was proven to be a world class schooner tall ship when she took top prize over 20 other schooners tall ships at this year’s 2017 Chesapeake Schooner Race, where she also set a new fastest race time.
Brunswick Landing Marina, where the Schooner Virginia will be docked during her stay, is a 101-acre marina with 347 wet slips and 100 dry slips and is able to accommodate vessels up to 225 feet in length. The marina is surrounded by land on three sides, which protects the docks and customers’ boats from hurricanes. This unique geographic quality is why during hurricanes every one of the slips at the marina is occupied. The Torras family has been enormously generous in loaning out their dock space and services to the visiting Tall Ships at free of charge.
The St. Marys Tall Ship Alliance’s primary mission is promoting the world’s Tall Ships and inviting them to the historic waterfronts of southeast Georgia. The Alliance, a Georgia 501(3)(c) non-profit, will promote and celebrate the rich history of St. Marys and Georgia’s maritime history. St. Marys Tall Ship Alliance has shown that the efforts establish a point of interest for both St. Marys and the southeastern Atlantic coast, extolling a point of interest for tourism from all points north and south of Georgia’s Borders.