Dar Młodzieży is back in Gdynia after five months, two Atlantic crossings and three intakes of cadets

The route and a symbolic departure date

The voyage began on 16 April. From Gdynia the frigate set course for the Isle of Man, then Cádiz, and from there across the Atlantic to the Bahamas and the United States, calling at Norfolk, New York and Boston.

The departure date was chosen deliberately. Exactly half a century earlier, on 16 April 1976, the sail training ship Dar Pomorza set out on a voyage marking the bicentennial of the United States. This time the occasion was the 250th anniversary of American independence and participation in the international Sail 250 events.

Training first, representation second

The frigate's core task remains educating future maritime professionals, so the voyage was divided into three stages with successive groups of cadets on board.

On the first leg, from Gdynia via the Isle of Man to Cádiz, the trainees were students of the university's faculty of marine engineering together with pupils of the maritime school in Świnoujście. In Cádiz more than a hundred first-year navigation students joined for the ocean crossing, the Bahamas and the passage to the United States. A further changeover took place in New York, where second-year navigation students came aboard.

The frigate entered Norfolk, her first American port, on 18 June under the command of Captain Michał Sadowski. The return crossing from Boston was led by Captain Krzysztof Kocyba.

The Fourth of July parade and a 44th birthday

The high point of the voyage was the international parade of sail in New York on 4 July, part of the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of American independence.

The date carried additional meaning for the ship herself. Exactly 44 years earlier, on 4 July 1982, the Polish ensign was raised on the frigate for the first time. On her own anniversary she was therefore representing Poland at one of the central events of the American jubilee.

Propeller damage and a yard stay in Szczecin

After the passage from New York to Boston, damage was found to the blades of the propeller, most probably caused during a squall in the New York anchorage on 3 July. A technical assessment confirmed that the voyage could safely continue.

Once the Atlantic training leg was complete, the frigate entered the Gryfia ship repair yard in Szczecin on 16 August for the necessary service work. That also marked the end of the training period for the second-year navigation students who had joined in New York.

After the yard stay she sailed on 29 August for Hamburg, arriving on 2 September. Her next call was Stavanger, from 11 to 14 September, before setting course for Gdynia.

What it means for maritime education

Beneath the ceremony lies what matters most to the industry: several hundred cadets who completed sea training in ocean conditions rather than on a coastal cruise. Crossing the Atlantic under sail is an experience no simulator and no placement on a merchant ship replicates, because it teaches teamwork, watchkeeping and responsibility in a setting where no outside help is available.

With shipyards, offshore wind and merchant shipping all competing for the same people, each such training campaign is a real contribution to the workforce balance of the Polish maritime economy, not merely a promotion of the flag.