Batkivschyna sails northward along East Coast (06/25/00)

Batkivschyna sails northward along East Coast

by Roma Hadzewycz

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The reports of their ship being lost at sea are greatly exaggerated (apologies to Mark Twain), and the Ukrainian schooner Batkivschyna is successfully participating in OpSail 2000, the mega-parade of tall ships from around the globe that is heading up the East Coast.

That news was reaffirmed on June 21 by two of the ship's crew members, Petro Vashchyk of Rivne, first mate for cultural affairs (and Kozak) and Viktor Povorozniuk of Kyiv, helmsman. The two sailors arrived at The Weekly escorted by Taras Szczur, commander of Ukrainian American Veterans Post 301 of Yonkers, N.Y., who was tapped by OpSail organizers in New York to serve as one of the Batkivschyna's honorary captains and liaison officers.

Operation Sail 2000, billed as the largest gathering in history of sailing ships, began in Puerto Rico on May 25, then proceeded to U.S. points northward. When the Batkivschyna was a no-show at the festivities in Puerto Rico and Miami, fears were raised that the ship was lost at sea. Anxious e-mails were exchanged during the last week of May by people closely watching the ship's journey.

According to Messrs. Vashchyk and Povorozniuk, the trip, which began in Kyiv on April 7, started out uneventfully. Then, in the Mediterranean, from Sicily to Gibraltar, the ship encountered a week's worth of storms. Nonetheless, the Batkivschyna arrived safe and sound, and on time, in Cadiz, Spain, where it represented Ukraine at the tall ships festival.

The crew of 15 then left for Puerto Rico on May 5. Once the ship was in the Atlantic Ocean, its short wave radio broke (earlier the ship had lost contact via two computers and a satellite link provided by a school in Wilmington, Del.), leaving it with no communications capability. Then, literally in the middle of the Atlantic, the ship met strong headwinds, forcing it to tack in order to remain on course. It was clear the ship would not make it in time for events in Puerto Rico or Miami, so the captain, Dymytrii Birioukovitch, decided to alter course and head for Norfolk.

Some 800 miles before Norfolk at about 1 a.m. (the sailors could not recall the exact date) with the ship at full sail due to good winds, a storm struck - so suddenly that the crew did not have time to lower the sails. The ship was buffeted by winds so powerful that the crew feared the sails would tear and the mast would break. At least the strong winds propelled the ship to make record time, Mr. Vashchyk quipped, as the schooner traveled at an amazing 15 knots per hour (when 9 knots is the norm and 11 knots is the maximum for this particular vessel).

The ship arrived in Norfolk on June 5 - more than a week early. There the crew was greeted by OpSail organizers and Ukrainian community members, including Olena Boyko, a sailing enthusiast whom the crew calls its admiral, Olha Cehelska and others.

As these lines are being written, the ship is on its way to Wilmington, Del., and then on to Baltimore, where it is scheduled to be from June 25 to 29 at the Canton-Baltimore Marine Center. The 89-foot vessel will visit New York on July 2-9 and is expected to be docked at Pier 84, just north of the Intrepid, the U.S. aircraft carrier that now serves as a sea, air and space museum. The parade of tall ships and fireworks in New York harbor will be held on July 4.

The schooner's U.S. trip is only the first leg of a journey dubbed "Discover Ukraine," whose goal is to sail the globe and inform the world about Ukraine. Aboard the ship are 20 panels depicting the history of Ukraine from the Scythian period to the present, as well as art work, photographs, videos and souvenirs.

And what's next? Messrs. Vashchyk and Povorozniuk said the "Discover Ukraine" journey would continue, probably into Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then, if things fall into place, into the Great Lakes region and, perhaps, the West Coast.

Both men noted the generousity of the Americans and Ukrainians with whom they've thus far come in contact and who have provided the Batkivschyna with food, fuel and other supplies. For information, or to offer assistance, interested persons may send e-mail to vashchyk@hotmail.com. Information is available on the Internet at www.marketing@webtv.net.

And, all are welcome to visit the Batkivschyna as it makes its ports of call.

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