Ship enthusiasts will finally have the chance to step aboard the historic Dutch tall ship Oosterschelde, which arrived at Lyttelton Harbour ahead of schedule.

A local group initially shared information about the ship’s visit, but its captain personally contacted chrislynchmedia.com to acknowledge the significant local interest in her arrival.

The Oosterschelde set sail from Plymouth Harbour, UK, in August 2023, embarking on a remarkable two-year planetary conservation mission, retracing Charles Darwin’s voyage of the Beagle.

Captain Jan-Willem Bos said “The message is that there is still time to change the world, and that conservation is about what we still have, not what we’ve lost.”

He said members of the public will have the chance to visit the ship on Sunday, with boarding available from 11am to 4pm at Te Ana Marina.

Visitors will be placed in groups of up to 10 at a time and should wait at the Te Ana Marina gate to be escorted to the ship, which was crewed by seven people.

 

“Since we’re here, we’d like to give people the opportunity to walk on deck and have a little look inside,” Captain Bos said.

“We’re not doing guided tours, but crew members will be available to answer questions.”

Reflecting on the journey so far, Bos described the trip from Hobart as a mixed bag. “It started with a nice day of sailing, then we had one or two days with not much wind, followed by 30 hours of a lot of wind. That was quite bumpy.”

Bos, who has captained the Oosterschelde for two years, called the job “incredible,” particularly during this ambitious voyage.

The Oosterschelde is set to depart Lyttelton on January 3rd, continuing its mission with stops at Cape Horn and the Falkland Islands.

Visitors keen to board the ship on Sunday should gather at the gate to Te Ana Marina, where groups will be escorted to and from the ship.

Bos said “We’ll take groups of up to 10 people, but we’re not going to hold people at the gate until a full group is ready.”