The St. Croix roadways were bare Wednesday morning but the Christiansted harbor waterways were busy. Boats were motoring out to the sea through the channel in the harbor. There were a few small sailboats that appeared to be in a sailing class with full sails just out of St. Croix Marina. And the picturesque Roseway schooner with its distinctive rust colored sails is back in port.
The Roseway returned to its winter port on Sunday night and was tied up at the Port Authority Dock at Gallows Bay. The Roseway crew was busy painting and polishing the wooden rails, checking the rigging and prepping the schooner for a sunset sail at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Roseway is a 137-foot schooner built in Massachusetts in 1925 to be a Grand Banks fishing schooner. It is now a part of the World Ocean School. It has become a floating classroom serving more than 4,000 island students in academically-tied curriculum aboard the ship.
Last year its contract with the V.I. government wasn’t renewed. But they are back and will be providing local kids with a chance to set sail and learn about the sea.
“This is all about keeping kids sailing,” Cpt. Dwight Deckelmann said. “The teachers love it and the kids love it.”
The funding for the students day-sail will come from private donations and a portion of the public day sales and private charters. In previous years it was partly funded by the Department of Education. Deckelmann encourages the public to come take a sail and support the education of the local youngsters.
February is set aside for the school children to begin classes in physics, buoyancy, ecology, marine biology and more, Deckelmann said.
This is the seventh year the ship has returned to St. Croix after a summer of sailing and teaching in the waters off the northeastern U.S. It sailed to St. Croix from Savannah, Ga., its fall and spring port. St. Croix has been her winter home port for the last six years.
To book a charter on Roseway, call 340-626-7877 or, for more information, visit www.worldoceanschool.org.