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In those times, Galle was host to regular visits by small Dutch sailing ships called Jachts. Several sunken jachts are at the bottom of Galle harbour today, testimony to the lively era of sail. From 2 to 7 September, after an absence of more than 300 years, just such a jacht will return to Galle. The ship will have completed an arduous ocean-crossing of more than 30 days from Jakarta. It will be following the trade winds, which have brought traders to Galle for thousands of years. The 24-metre replica of the Duyfken, built in Fremantle, Western Australia, is sailing on the longest re-enactment voyage ever undertaken in an Age-of-Discovery replica ship. Called the Little Dove in English, Duyfken left Sydney, Australia, on 5 May and began her re-enactment of a spice-trading voyage from Jakarta, Indonesia in July. The crew's ultimate destination will be the island of Texel, near Amsterdam in The Netherlands: a total distance of more than 18,200 nautical miles. The voyage will take 12 months. Galle's critical historic role in the global spice trade will feature in the five-day visit. Duyfken 1606 Replica Foundation Chief Executive Officer, Graeme Cocks, said, "The Foundation hopes that the ship's visit to Galle would also highlight the city's historical attractions and help promote tourist visits to Sri Lanka". The Ambassador of the Royal Netherlands and High Commissioner of Australia said that the visit would also highlight the longstanding connections that so uniquely tie the history of the Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Australia. The Voyage marks the 400th anniversary of the establishment of the world's first multinational trading company, the United East India Company (VOC) that pioneered the Dutch spice trade. It has been more than 300 years since a Dutch jacht has sailed the spice route, which plied between Asia and Europe. The result was a flowering of culture in the Netherlands. Artists such as Rembrandt made an impact on European art and Dutch scientists made many new discoveries. Duyfken is the only fully seagoing Dutch Age-of-Discovery vessel sailing in the world. It pre-dated Captain Cook's voyage to Australia in the ship Endeavour by almost 170 years. Duyfken was also the first recorded ship to visit Australia - the Duyfken sailed from Banda to the Pennefather River in Queensland in 1606. The Duyfken will sail the historic spice route from Jakarta to Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Cape Town, St Helena, Ascension Island, the Azores and on to The Netherlands. It will return to Fremantle, Western Australia in late 2002-2003 to go on permanent exhibition. Duyfken is in excellent condition, little more than one year old and is scheduled to arrive in The Netherlands on 30 April 2002, Queen Beatrice's birthday. The crew comprises 16 Australian, Dutch, New Zealand, English and American adventurers. Conditions on board are tough, with some legs of the voyage as long as 55 days. Crew facilities are extremely basic. For example, the ship does not have freezers, and has only a small galley. Updates of the ship's progress are posted on the Captain's Log at the Duyfken website, www.duyfken.com.
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