There’s a new U.S. National Historic Landmark in Savannah this spring. It will disappear in a couple weeks but reappear in the fall.
The schooner Roseway has made some fascinating journeys over the last 90 years. And now those journeys have brought her to Savannah.
For the next two weeks, she is making regular excursions on the Savannah River from the Westin Savannah Harbor Marina.
Built in 1925, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997 and now home to the World Ocean School, the Roseway first came here during last year’s Savannah Tall Ships Challenge.
Education director Eden Leonard told me recently that last year’s visit generated considerable interest from the local schools and the community.
Now the 137-foot Roseway and her World Ocean School are planning to spend about a month each spring and autumn on the Savannah River. We’re an ideal midpoint between the ship’s summers in Boston and winters in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The primary mission of the World Ocean School is to offer educational programs for school students. The nonprofit organization especially tries to reach underserved youth.
Leonard noted that the programs available on the schooner align especially well with middle school standards and curricula, but it’s obvious that a trip on the Roseway would benefit both younger and older students.
The old ship seems a perfect platform for myriad lessons about history, math, science, physics, mechanics and so on.
In addition to daytime programs for students, the Roseway welcomes the general public for sails on Thursday and Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, the schooner takes two-hour cruises at 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
The cost for the day-sails is $35 for adults and $25 for seniors and children. Note that there is also a promotion on Travelzoo (http://www.travelzoo.com) for discounted tickets.
Those evening and weekend sails give the public a chance to get on board the Roseway and provide critical income for the World Ocean School’s programs.
I was fortunate to take a cruise on the Roseway last week.
Though I’ve been on the Savannah River before, I’d certainly never been on a 137-foot sailing vessel. It was a great experience that I’d recommend to anyone.
Captain Tom Ryan got things rolling with a warm, informative welcome to the several dozen of us who climbed on board. And then guests literally helped raise the sails.
The dozen or so crew members work as teachers for school groups, but they play a variety of different roles for the afternoon and weekend sails.
Young, engaging and well-educated, the crew members shared the Roseway’s remarkable history, from her days as racing schooner and fishing yacht to her acquisition by the World Ocean School in 2002.
But mostly the crew just answered random questions about the Roseway and their lives aboard her. Many stay on the ship for just six months or a year before moving on to other adventures.
“We try to create excitement about learning,” Leonard told me just after we got underway last week. She said logistics involving testing and transportation had prevented the Roseway from hosting as many school groups as it could.
But Leonard also outlined a number of plans for maximizing the schooner’s educational potential when she returns to Savannah in the fall. One plan calls for larger groups to split up so they can alternate sails on the Roseway with programs at the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum and tours of downtown.
So students won’t just be learning about the Roseway. They’ll be learning about Savannah, too. The ship offers a unique melding of the city’s past and present.
Indeed, on our sail, we passed both a laden freighter and a large tanker.
And from the river it’s possible to see so much of the city’s history — from the old warehouses along the waterfront to City Hall’s gold dome, from the outsized Hyatt to the flat expanse of the stalled Savannah River Landing, from the iron bridges of Factors Walk to the incredible potential of the former Georgia Power properties at either end of River Street.
“All of Savannah’s history has been maritime,” Leonard said.
As we disembarked, I had a chance to chat for a few minutes with World Ocean School president and co-founder Abby Kidder, who met up with the Roseway for a few days while new crew members were being trained.
All indications are that the nonprofit will continue coming to Savannah, but that will obviously be contingent on strong support from the local community.
You can find out a lot more about the Roseway and the World Ocean School at http://www.worldoceanschool.org.
Better yet, you can take an afternoon or weekend sail and see for yourself what the ship and its programs are all about.
The Roseway heads north at the beginning of May.
City Talk appears every Tuesday and Sunday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net and http://www.billdawers.com. Send mail to 10 East 32nd St., Savannah, Ga. 31401.