"Belle Amie is a fast ship," explains skipper Jörg Charles with a grin. In a leaden calm, the traditional sailing boat creeps through Geltinger Bay at 0.5 knots. However, as soon as the slightest breeze stirs, the water at the bow begins to gurgle timidly. The 200-tonne steel colossus under full sail really wants to get going.
The three boatmen Raimund, Simon and Jorma have set all seven sails together with the obviously motivated trainees: the headsail flyer, jib and foresail, the mainsail and the mizzen and a topsail above each of them. However, the wind gods did not honour this. "That's particularly unfortunate, of course," regrets Jörg Charles, "when the crew really wants to sail and the wind doesn't play ball." This does not dampen the visibly high spirits of the group of young adults. An extensive buffet lunch is served on deck, followed by singing together and strumming guitars. The atmosphere is marvellous. A blessing for Jörg and Mareike Charles. If the couple were cursing the purchase of the "Belle Amie", you couldn't blame them. The time at which the Erlebe Meer association began operating the traditional sailing ship could hardly have been more unfavourable. The coronavirus pandemic has made ownership a balancing act.
A look back a good hundred years. In 1915, the traditional sailing ship was built at the shipyard of the van der Windt brothers in Vlaardingen in the Netherlands and launched on 30 July as the "Wilhelmina Klein" (fishing mark IJM 240). The fact that a sailing logger was still being built for driftnet fishing in the North Sea at that time is unusual or, as Jörg Charles says, "very lucky". Motorised luggers had long been used for herring fishing. Furthermore, with the start of the First World War in 1914, fishing in the North Sea largely came to a standstill. Several luggers flying the German flag were sunk by the British.
The traditional sailing ship "Belle Amie" has already travelled a lot in Europe
"Wilhelmina Klein", on the other hand, was sold to Katwijk aan Zee in February 1917 and renamed "Maria Catharina" (KW 70). From 1927, the traditional sailing ship briefly belonged to Heinrich Wilhelm Ritscher from Hamburg-Moorburg, who installed the first 50 hp engine. Captain Johan Hilding Mattson from Sweden buys the ship in 1927. It is renamed "Helga" after the skipper's wife and from then on has Hovenäset as its home port.
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The Swedish flag will fly at the stern for decades. In 1934, the traditional sailing ship became part of Arthur Emilius Henriksson's "Prinsenflotte" in Gothenburg. As "Prins Axel", the gaff-rigged ketch now sails as a cargo and merchant ship with a 79 hp engine. Until 1968, the "Prins Axel", like the other ships "Prins Knut" and "Prins Carl", transported freight from Gothenburg along the Swedish east coast and to Danish harbours.
In 1968, the new owners Sören Petterson and Harald Johansson finally christened the traditional sailing ship "Belle Amie" and used it for passenger cruises after the conversion. In 1974, the municipality of Danderyd in Stockholm took over the "Belle Amie" as a sail training ship, which was used by a maritime school and a public school.
When the "Belle Amie" is put up for sale, Mr and Mrs Charles make their move straight away
"In 2019, we found out that a lugger was for sale in Sweden," recalls Jörg Charles. As a professional navigator with a captain's licence for long voyages, he has long been "in love with luggers", as he says. Together with his wife Mareike, he crawls through the ship for three days. In April 2019, the couple bought the "Belle Amie" and had a ship safety certificate issued by BG Verkehr for their traditional sailing ship under the German flag. The licence as a passenger and cargo ship in Sweden will also be retained.
Interestingly, the Charles' had another ship at the time of purchase. They have owned the "Anny von Glückstadt" since 2016. The ship belonged to a Danish friend, and Jörg Charles had often sailed on it since 2008, including several times across the Atlantic. So the "Fiddlers Green" was bought and renamed "Anny von Glückstadt". Instead of being a traditional German ship, she travelled as a small merchant ship.
In 2019, "Anny" will be sold to England as just such a cargo ship. The trainees' existing bookings are quickly transferred to the traditional sailing ship "Belle Amie". The first season starts for the Operator association Erlebe Meer with the well-booked Kiel Week.
Extensive work prepares the traditional sailing ship for further voyages- then comes Corona
The guest cruises to the Hanse Sail are also going splendidly. "We came out of nowhere with a ship that was unknown in Germany and were immediately fully booked," the captain recalls of the fantastic start. The 2020 cruises are also fully booked early on. Inspired by the success, the rig will be completely overhauled in winter 2019/20. The ship will be fitted with two new solid Douglas fir masts, all fittings will be replaced and around 80 per cent of the standing and running rigging will be replaced. The owner couple have invested almost 40,000 euros in this.
But right at the start of the 2020 season, the coronavirus brings everything to a standstill. The season doesn't start until mid-July, lasts just six weeks and the few cruises sail with absolutely minimal occupancy. Instead of being fully booked, the occupancy rate is just 15 per cent. "That almost meant the end of the line for our small operator association." Jörg Charles himself earns money in the winter months as a captain on coastal voyages in northern Europe. In order to at least halfway cover the running costs of the ship, the volunteer members of the association produce and sell "Belle Amie" T-shirts. Nevertheless, the Erlebe Meer 2020 association is running out of money.
"We've logged the first nautical mile for today," the skipper shouts above deck. Just don't lose your sense of humour, even in the persistent doldrums and financially strained situation. Neither diminishes the enthusiasm for "Belle Amie". With a hull length of 27 metres, she is one of the larger steel sailing luggers. "What is unusual is that the hull has remained original to this day, i.e. it has neither been lengthened nor shortened," explains Charles. The appearance of the "Belle Amie" is also very similar to the sailing herring lugger, which can be seen in a photo from 1917. The jib boom rises slightly. The mainsail is currently still being used with a boom, but in the medium term it is planned to sail without it again, as was customary on the herring luggers. "We have lots of old photographs that show how this was done on board." The boomless mainsail provided more working space on deck when the nets were hauled in.
The "Belle Amie" has a past as a herring lugger- now everyone can sail with us
Drift net fishing with luggers was extremely strenuous work - even after the sailing ship era. The longest-running German herring fishing company in Glückstadt stopped catching herring, which were culled at sea, in 1969. It was almost impossible to find crew members for the extreme working conditions on the luggers. In addition, the herring stocks in the North Sea had already declined significantly at that time.
50 years later, the "Belle Amie", a former sailing herring lugger, returned to Jörg and Mareike Charles' home town. The traditional sailing ship is now officially an ambassador for the city of Glückstadt and is moored in its home harbour during the winter months. However, the museum harbour in Flensburg, of which the operating association has been a member for many years, will remain the base for the summer Baltic Sea cruises.
"In 2021, however, there was still a lot of uncertainty about what the future would bring," says Jörg Charles at the helm of the "Belle Amie". Trips to the Canary Islands were planned for autumn 2021. But nobody dared to book them. "It was very difficult to find new people for sailing trips." Summary: The 2021 season was disastrous due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Only group trips took place - if at all. For example, the "KlimaSail" seminar cruises, in which the North Church combines seminar content on climate change with sailing.
"Belle Amie" hopes for more visitors again in 2023
"Three years ago, you could easily accommodate four people together in a cabin on single-booker cruises," recalls Mareike Charles. "Then there were more and more requests for single cabins" - which of course don't exist on "Belle Amie".
On day trips to the big harbour festivals or for company events on board, this does not matter. However, on single-booker trips lasting several days and on class or group trips, accommodation is in double, quadruple, six-person or aft cabins. There are two toilets and a bathroom with shower and washing machine on board.
In view of the improvement in the coronavirus situation and the ever decreasing restrictions, the "Belle Amie" is hoping for more visitors again in 2023. Thanks to the unchanged desire to travel and sail, the signs are once again green for the traditional sailing ship in 2023.
Nothing is missing on board the traditional sailing ship
If you descend the companionway stairs amidships, you reach the former lugger's fish room. This has long been a spacious mess room with seating for 25. The adjoining galley offers catering standards with a five-burner gas cooker, double sink, refrigerator, day freezer, dishwasher and professional espresso machine. Overall, the boat is fully equipped. "Professional navigators," explains the 51-year-old skipper. This means that "Belle Amie" is divided into a total of four watertight sections or that the complete safety equipment complies with the specifications for cruising area A, even though it is currently only sailing in area B. The radio equipment, for example, is designed for worldwide navigation. Naturally, an engine log is kept and everything is in its place on the workbench in the engine room. "I'm a sailor, so everything has to be tidy."
The professional navigator also voluntarily sails the "Belle Amie" with more crew members than required. There are currently three deckhands on board. They instruct the trainees in sailing manoeuvres, teach knots and show rigging. Among them is son Jorma (19), who is starting a ship's mechanic apprenticeship after leaving school to learn seafaring from the bottom up. Mareike (49), who has a degree in education, is responsible for the organisation as the "good soul on board". She recently obtained her nautical licence for coastal navigation.
Anyone can sail on the "Belle Amie"
With such a professional set-up, numerous sailing trips on the Baltic Sea will finally take place again in 2022. In the medium term, the Charles family can also imagine transporting cargo in Europe that has been sailed across the Atlantic by other ships. As a showpiece to raise awareness of sustainable transport - after all, the power of the wind has been put to good use for centuries.
The remaining days of the group cruise also bring wind, and the traditional sailing ship "Belle Amie" can show that it is a really fast classic that runs a good height at the cross. "10.5 knots is possible," revealed skipper Jörg Charles, who was delighted that he was currently sailing the fastest logger still underway. It is to be hoped that he will quickly return to more normality on a direct course. "We very much hope that people's interest in sailing holidays will return - as will their confidence."
If you would like to sail on the "Belle Amie", you will get HERE all information.
Technical data traditional sailing ship "Belle Amie":
- Operator association: Erlebe Meer e. V.
- Home port: Glückstadt on the Elbe
- Year of construction: 1915 as a herring lugger
- Shipyard: Gebrüder van der Windt, Vlaardingen/Netherlands
- Overall length: 38.00 m
- Overall width: 6.29 m
- Draught: 2.90 m
- Mast height above WL: 23.00 m
- Sail area: 380.0 m²
- Engine: Scania, 380 hp
- Persons on board: 25 or 50 guests + 4 regular crew
