taken during predawn hours...this tall ship is docked in Vineyard Haven for the weekend!

excerpt from MV Gazette:
"The Kalmar Nyckel was commissioned in 1998 and is a replica of the ship of the same name that was built in 1620 in Holland for use by the Swedish Navy. The original Kalmar Nyckel made four trips across the Atlantic between 1640 and 1644 and helped establish the first permanent European settlement in the Delaware Valley, later named Wilmington. In the late 1660s, while serving the English navy, the ship was lost off the coast of England.

Today, the replica Kalmar Nyckel is home to Capt. David W. Hyatt and his crew, which includes his wife and two children. Captain Hyatt's daughter, Eva, is 12 and his son, David W. 5th, is five. Most of the rest of the crew, which numbers about 20, are volunteers. They are onboard because they want to learn to sail.

"We pick up new volunteers every now and then," said Captain Hyatt. "Sometimes it will be people who come on board for a day sail and get interested that way. All the volunteers have to take a certain number of classes on sailing before they can come aboard. We hold classes in the fall for 13 weeks and an intensive two-week course in the summer."