The visit of the emblematic school ship of the Spanish Navy Juan Sebastián de Elcano to the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has been welcomed with great enthusiasm and expectation by chicharreros and visitors, who since 11:00 yesterday, the start of the first leg of the day To visit it, they were already lining up to get on the ship and see this impressive ship up close that arrived at the port last Friday, after departing from Cádiz on the 14th, as part of its 95th Training Cruise.
A queue that grew as the morning progressed, despite the fact that a drop of rain even fell, and that surprised more than one of those who approached the port with the intention of visiting the ship. “I think I remember that it’s the first time I’ve come, as a child they brought me to see the Daedalus, about 40 years ago, and the truth is that I didn’t count on there being so much queue, but it’s worth it, it’s very pretty, it looks slender and, furthermore, it is our school ship, we have to be proud of it”, affirmed Víctor, who was waiting in line with his wife Luzma, who pointed out that it was worth the wait.
There were also many families, like Alberto Aguiar’s, who came with his wife, daughter and father. This, in the 60s of the last century, spent two years of instruction in Juan Sebastián de Elcano. “We came because my father lived on the ship for two years and he wanted to remember his experiences, and with his family. The truth is that we did not expect such a queue, but there is patience and a desire to see it ”, Alberto pointed out. “I was at the time when we did a regatta with boats from all over the world, we left from Lisbon to Bermuda and from there to New York. I remember it well, I was about 20 years old and we were all over the world, what happens is that the sea is a bit sacrificed. I have revisited the ship from time to time, they are memories, friends, experiences, which are important”, recalled Alberto Sr.
But he was not the only one who came to the port yesterday to relive memories of a unique experience, like Antonio Sánchez, who was accompanied by his daughter Elisa and was training on the ship for 60 years: “We usually come to visit it because it always brings a certain joy , and envy of not being able to go out with him again. It is exciting, the time when I sailed was wonderful and a unique and beautiful experience, we visited many places. Today young people are no longer interested in the sacrifice involved, spending the same 40 days at sea without seeing land and always working. It is a sacrifice, but the joy is so great that it is worth it”. Elisa recounted how it had been “a luxury to travel the boat with him, with all the memories and anecdotes he has about how it works, what things are for, his experiences, where he fell, where he would spend his time to escape from the officers, and those day-to-day anecdotes, of the ship’s routine, because it has been exciting and very beautiful”.
Juan Sebastián de Elcano was also able to visit yesterday afternoon and he is already leaving today to continue his route to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), “coinciding with the exploration of half a century ago, when Elcano and Magallanes also passed through that area”, explained the Commander of the ship, Manuel García, last Friday, collected Efe, when the ship arrived early in the morning at the Los Llanos Dock in the port of the capital, where he was received with welcome salutes by the Historical Cultural Association Gesta of July 25 from 1797. The commander stressed that they had not been able to make a stopover in the capital of Tenerife for years due to the pandemic, so they returned to the city “with great desire”.
After arriving in Rio de Janeiro, they will pass through Buenos Aires (Argentina), Punta Arenas (Chile), El Callao (Peru), cross the Panama Canal and cross Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) and Puerto Limón (Costa Rica), to finally visit two North American ports: Pensacola and New York. And from there they will return to Spain, where they will dock at the Naval Military School, in Marín, where the midshipmen will conclude the training cruise. The ship will travel after its transit from Marín to Cádiz, where it is expected to arrive on July 21 of this year.
The ship’s visit to the chicharrero port also coincided with the docking of the patrol boat Meteoro, which could also be visited yesterday.
seafaring training
The purpose of an Instruction Cruise aboard the school ship is to contribute to the marine, military, social and human formation of the students on board, through instruction and training at sea and in port. Likewise, the external action of the State is supported, through the naval presence in various ports.
Built in the Echevarrieta and Larrinaga shipyards in Cádiz, the school ship was launched on March 5, 1927 and delivered to the Navy on August 17, 1928. It has been at sea for 95 years with almost two million nautical miles sailed by all the seas of the world.
