Schooner Helena
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The Finnish Sail Training Association's training ship schooner Helena returned from an eight-month ocean voyage on May 9th 2006. The schooner has been sailing throughout the whole winter season in the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean rounding the continent of South America and the legendary Cape Horn.
The Helena's crew consisted of nearly 200 young students during the ten legs of the trip. The path of the voyage was following the fifth trip once undertaken in 1935-1936 by the frigate Suomen Joutsen, which functioned formerly as the Finnish Navy's training ship. The Suomen Joutsen returned to Helsinki from her fifth ocean voyage slightly later than the schooner Helena, in the beginning of July. The voyage of the Suomen Joutsen lasted one week to nine months.
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The schooner Helena set sail in Helsinki in September 22nd 2005. The ship returned back home after a long ocean voyage onshore Forum Marinum to the sunny Turku, next to its forerunner Suomen Joutsen.
The final trip on her way back home was the challenging Atlantic crossing, which was the longest non-stop deep-sea leg on Helena's voyage. As distinct from the previous, the schooner did not put in on Bermuda, but sailed this time directly from the Caribbean's St. Martin to the Azores. The trip lasted almost three weeks, accruing 2500 nautical miles. The leg continued from the Azores to Calais in France, and after the nine legs accruing almost 4000 nautical miles in the sea log.
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It was the best time to cross the Atlantic from the United States to Europe. "The winds are favorable in the northern Atlantic. We followed the low pressures moving in the north and tried to sail in their wake so that we would have a good wind, but without the storm," told by the captain of the ship, sea captain Tommi Kontto. "On a long sail special attention must be given into the planning of foodstuff. Complement to the food supplies was not received until the Azores. In addition to that the consumption of fresh water was a critical factor. If a normal Finn consumes on an average 150 liters of water per day, must one person on board Helena manage with 10 liters."
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After the successful ocean voyage has the schooner Helena behind her 26 000 nautical miles, which is much more than globes circumference. Rounding of the South America took altogether 251 days. Guidance and training to the students as responsible ship's officers on the training ship was given by 17 voluntary maritime experts.
Many followed the voyage of the schooner Helena on a special website, where the logs were updated by the students almost every day. The texts, pictures and the chart service reporting Helena's location, which was updated at 6-hour intervals, send via satellite found huge favor with the general public. There were at its best nearly 25 000 virtual travelers following the students' experiences on the website.
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