Creoula completes voyage of cultural exchange

Fifty youth from Canada and Portugal completed a marine odyssey Sunday as the four-masted sailing vessel "Creoula" arrived at Aveiro, Portugal.

The Creoula, the last ship of the famed Portuguese White Fleet, is now a training vessel for the Portuguese Navy, and was taking part in a cultural exchange between Portugal and Canada. Last month, the vessel arrived in St. John's on August 28, with a crew of 25 Canadian and 25 Portuguese youth who had joined the vessel in Aveiro. On September 1, a new crew of 50 youth from the two countries took their turn to sail the vessel back to Portugal.

Tourism, Culture and Recreation Minister Sandra Kelly represented the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador at the Creoula's arrival, and noted that it marked the completion of an historic journey and a warm symbolic gesture between two great marine nations.

"The Creoula Voyage pays homage to the pioneering exploits of famed Portuguese explorers, and also to the years of cordial relations that have prevailed between the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the people of Portugal," she said.

Kelly noted that the voyage has been a rare opportunity to reflect back on another era, not only to the 20th century heyday of the White Fleet, but to the time of renowned Portuguese explorers such as Gaspar Corte-Real and Vasco da Gama.

However, she added that for the young people of Portugal and Canada who served on the second leg of the Creoula Voyage from St. John's to Aviero, the look back was much more than a mere academic retrospective.

"The fury of the seas they faced during 36 hours of Hurricane Danielle was no simulation," Kelly said. "If one thing has remained unchanged during the near 500 years since the voyages of Corte-Real or Giovanni Caboto, it is the unexpected power of the sea to wield its might against those who dare to traverse its vast distances."

But the good ship Creoula rode out those seas, as she has done since 1937, and those young crewmembers from Portugal and Canada will have quite a story to tell their grandchildren, she added.

Kelly also praised the degree of initiative, cooperation and partnership which was at the foundation of the Creoula voyage, particularly the roles played by Memorial University, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Marine Institute which provided offshore safety and survival training for the youth.

The Heritage Foundation coordinated the project in this province, and chairperson Victoria Collins said the project was a unique opportunity for the foundation.

"The White Fleet is such a key part of the marine heritage of St. John's, and the province as a whole," Collins said. "We are delighted that the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador could play a role in the coordination of this project. It mirrors our heritage preservation and education mandate in this province."

Collins added the Heritage Foundation was pleased that the youth who sailed on the Creoula could experience the province's rich architectural heritage by visiting historic Bonavista during

Kelly noted that these young crewmembers have also shared in an international marine conservation project, as the Creoula Voyage was an adjunct to Lisbon's Expo 98 and its theme of Oceans: A Heritage for the Future.

"The Creoula Voyage, along with Portugal's Expo 98, both bring the world's attention to the urgency of working together to ensure that an ocean heritage is retained for countless generations to come," she said.

One of the objectives of the Creoula Project was to establish new links between different interests in Newfoundland and Portugal, and the project has seen a cooperation agreement signed between Memorial University of Newfoundland and Portugal's University of Ilhavo, a "Friendship Agreement" between Ilhavo and the City of St. John's, and an agreement between the Newfoundland Museum and the Ilhavo Museum, and the friends of both museums.

The Newfoundland crewmembers of the Creoula will spend the next several days touring the area and Lisbon's Expo 98, and are scheduled to arrive back in St. John's on September 25.

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