Today was an exciting day. For the first time in my life, I got the chance to step on board the ARA Libertad Frigate, which arrived past Friday July 8 to the port of Amsterdam.
The Argentine Navy Training Tall Ship Frigate is one of the biggest sailing ships of its kind. Its over 103 meters long and has three masts. This is the ship’s 45th voyage. During her journey, sheis visiting several cities in Brasil, the United States, Europe, and Uruguay, for a total duration of 196 days. The crew consists of naval officers and representatives of invited foreign navies. Her maiden voyage was in 1961. Since then, she continues to be a training ship with yearly instruction trips for the graduating naval cadets, as well as a traveling goodwill ambassador
Above: Approaching the ARA Libertad Frigate, on board of my sailing vessel “The Malbec” with the Argentine flag on the bow.
Its been almost five years since I’ve been living in the Netherlands. Despite being over 11.000km far away from home, today it felt like being in motherland. The context of this opportunity was very special, as yesterday, Saturday July 9, Argentina commemorated its 200 years independence anniversary, making it a very special event.
While on board, I got the chance to talk to many of the crew members, which were very welcoming and proud to show me around. They also shared rich anecdotes about the life on board and the different cities they visited before reaching Amsterdam.
Here a small video I made. I hope you enjoy it. An album with pictures will follow soon.
Fernando Paradiso
July 11, 2016 at 10:45 amWhat a beautifull coincidence is to visit the ship on Agentina’s independence day (and even more romantic if you consider that Argentina was celebrating 200 years of independence). I’d be great if you could share some pics about the moment (if you have them of course) so we can share them all over facebook and Instagram!
Hope you can tell us more about that moment!
Thanks!