Kalmar Nyckel offers adventuresome pirate excursions in September

You won’t meet Blackbeard or even Capt. Jack Sparrow, but chances are if you crave adventure on the high seas with a bit of pirate lore on the side, you’ll want to sign up for the pirate cruises offered by the Kalmar Nyckel in September.

Described as Delaware’s own tall ship, the Kalmar Nyckel is a recreation of the armed merchant ships that plied the waters of the Atlantic bringing settlers to European colonies in the New World. It acts as a floating schoolroom and historic attraction that under a full array of sails calls at ports along the eastern seaboard between April and November.

Capt. Sharon Litcofsky, one of Kalmar Nyckel’s four full-time crewmembers, spoke about the ship and what modern day seafarers can expect on a typical 2 1/2-hour voyage.

1 What does Kalmar Nyckel mean?

“Kalmar is a city in Sweden,” Litcofsky said. “The original ship was owned by the city and patrolled the harbor in front of its fortress. The name literally means ‘Key of Kalmar,’ because to get into the city, you had to pass the ship and the fortress.”

The ship, built in 1629, later was used to bring some of the first European colonists to the shores of northern Delaware, where in 1638 they founded New Sweden, with its capital of Fort Christina, now the city of Wilmington. After a typical two- to three-month voyage, the settlers would arrive in time for spring planting, one of the reasons New Sweden flourished while Dutch settlers in what is now Lewes starved and died.

2 What’s it like under sail, and what can passengers expect from their voyage?

“It’s like stepping back in time,” Litcofsky said. “When all the sails are set and you look up, you see the rigging dancing with the stars. It creates a surreal effect. It’s all so old-fashioned looking, but it’s real, you’re making it go.”

If they wish to do so, passengers are allowed to work at alongside the ship’s all-volunteer crew. Although they’re not allowed to climb the rigging or partake in anything that could be considered hazardous, they’re usually allowed to haul lines, set the sails and even steer the vessel.

3 What are the pirate voyages like?

As with the ship’s normal tours, passengers get to work with the crew and also learn more about pirates and piracy in general, Litcofsky said. Or if they prefer a more sedate voyage, they can sit back on the quarter deck and just watch.

Overall, landlubbers can learn more about life aboard these wooden-hulled sailing ships, with all of its variety and dangers, particularly from lawless sailors who made their living by raiding and plundering other ships.

“The crew dresses in period clothing so they look sort of piratey,” Litcofsky said. “We have lots of opportunities for the kids. We fly the pirate flag, tell pirate stories and sing sea shanties. We also have a pirate scavenger hunt. It’s a lot of fun.”

4 Why is this ship considered a re-creation, not a replica, of the original?

“We don’t have exact plans of the original,” Litcofsky said. “It’s based off logbooks, paintings of ships of the period and basic things we learned from the Vasa, a ship from this period in a museum in Sweden.”

Following a failed initial attempt, a number of investors successfully raised enough money to restart construction of the recreation in 1995. Launched in September 1997, it is owned and operated by the nonprofit Kalmar Nyckel Foundation and is funded by state revenue, sailing revenue and private donations.

Although it has two engines for backup, the ship often moves on its own under a full spread of sail. It also houses a full compliment of modern navigational and safety equipment that’s so well hidden passengers barely notice any of it.

5 Why is the Kalmar Nyckel so important to Delaware?

“The ship is the Mayflower of Delaware, but unlike the Mayflower, it’s not as well known,” Litcofsky said.

After its first trip, the Kalmar Nyckel sailed to what is now St. Kitts in the Caribbean with Peter Minuit, who had constructed Fort Christina. One night in 1638, a storm blew up while Minuit was dining aboard another ship, which was blown out to sea with him aboard. That ship was lost with all hands.

The Kalmar Nyckel survived a devastating storm on its return to Sweden, then made three more successful Atlantic crossings, the only ship of its time to do so.

The original Kalmar Nyckel was lost, probably somewhere in the Baltic, after it was sold to a private shipping company in 1651, Litcofsky said.

Email Jeff Brown at jeff.brown@doverpost.com.