White Squall II -- the Sinking of the School Ship Concordia

For years, the movie,White Squall, has been a favorite of mine both for its characters and the mystery of exactly why the ship featured -- the Albatross -- sank. In my research, I've attempted to unravel some of the mystery by diving into books such as Daniel Parrott's, Tall Ships Down. Perrott's investigation did help me to understand some of the complexities that may have led to Albatross' foundering, and when I closed the chapter on that book, I think I also closed the chapter on school ships. Somehow I just automatically made the assumption that with the loss of Albatross' came some sort of maritime ruling that floating classrooms were a thing of the past.

So, imagine my surprise when I read the headline last February, "Ship with teenagers sinks". My first thought was that some sort of ferry or motorized yacht had gone down. But as the story began to filter in, and the pictures of a tall ship materialized, I was suddenly all ears. What kind of ship was this? Ships with teenage crews don't exist anymore, right?

S/V Concordia was a beautiful ship. Run by West Island College in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. At 188 feet in length, she was twice the length of Albatross and carried 48 students, eight teachers and eight crew. (In comparison, Albatross only carried up to 14 students. Read more here.) Concordia sailed the oceans and taught her young crew -- 11^th and 12^th grade high schoolers -- the knowledge of books and the knowledge of the sea.

Concordia was a floating classroom of teenagers, just like the Albatross. But that's not all they had in common. I put "White Squall II" in my title because both vessels appear to have encountered a powerful force of wind that pushed them unexpectantly onto their sides, causing rapid down flooding and eventual loss of the ships. TheStar.com reports that Concordia's Captain, William Curry, blamed the rare occurrence as a microburst of wind - a sudden vertical downdraft that caught the ship's sails, while the vessel leaned dangerously to one side. Curry was below decks when Concordia suddenly keeled, then keeled again. Because the entire surface area of the ship's sails were exposed to the pounding horizontal winds it took a mere 15 seconds for the ship to flip on its side. Curry said it immediately began to sink and slipped beneath the waves 30 minutes later.

Though both ships shared a similar knock down, there is one, big difference in the final outcome of the two sinkings: Albatross carried six souls down with her while Concordia -- even though her size and crew were significantly larger -- saw no lives lost. None.

Amazing.

I've sometimes wondered what it must be like to be inside a sailing ship and suddenly have your floor become a wall; the way "up" turn into a "sideways" escape - with water pouring in. Concordia's barely 2-week-old crew can tell you about that. And their survival - all of them - points to some significant emergency training. Concordia's captain and crew should be commended. The wind you cannot control; the procedures for escaping a sinking ship... that can be taught. And apparently well.

The Concordia may sail no more, but her crew lives on.

No lives lost. But lives certainly changed.

As I've kept up on the ongoing investigation of the ship's sinking, I discovered a fascinating read over on West Island College's website. There I found speeches from the Class Afloat's 2010 graduation class. These were the young people that called Concordia theirs. These teenagers experienced an ordeal that most young people will never encounter: having their ship blown over and sink out beneath them. Listen to a portion of Antoine Boyer's valedictorian speech:

"Looking back at myself 2 years ago, I realize I really did not know what I was signing up for. I didn't know that I would take away more from this experience than I originally anticipated. It was more, way more, than an adventurous school program. It was a journey. It was all the little moments we spent together, laughing at the bow, begging for dessert, climbing aloft and watching the sunset, waking up at 4 in the morning to go stand on the Bridge, canoeing at Mersey River, napping in Res, watching movies in the hallways and laughing until we cried. These moments are what made the journey both indescribable and unforgettable. Though travel played a part, it is the people that make Class Afloat what it is.

Of course, not everything this year was perfect. On February 17th, 9 days into our first sail of second semester, our will as a crew was tested as Davie Jones claimed Concordia and left us afloat in rafts. Our lives were suddenly trusted in the hands of our crewmembers both new and old. We had only one another to look to and to count on. We did not disappoint. After two days in the rafts the ordeal was over, but our journey was not. And strangely, in the moments where we might have been expected to fall apart our crew only became stronger. We succeeded in pulling every single person to safety. We came through this obstacle stronger than we were before."

The Class Afloat program continues

A new ship will replace Concordia -- The Sorlandet. It's a beautiful looking ship and I'm glad the Class Afloat program still thrives. I'm glad they are going on, forging ahead. And I'm glad that future teens will have the opportunity to grip a wooden rail, and gaze up at the stars, and climb into rigging like so many have done long ago.

May God grant the Sorlandet's crew safety - but not just safety, for safety's sake alone. May He give them exhilaration too as they ply the waters, tasting the salt...

If I could be there with you... I think I would.

Yes, I think I would.

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Other Resources
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► The Entire West Island College Class Afloat Valedictory Address by Antoine Boyer (Click Here)

► West Island College Class Afloat Main Page (Click Here)

► White Squall - the Sinking of the School Ship Albatross (Click Here)

► Tall Ships Down, Daniel S. Parrott ISBN 0-07-143545-X (Amazon Link)

► The Star.com "It was like the Titanic" article (Click Here)

► Sea-Fever Consulting Blog (Click Here) (Great links to various stories on the Concordia sinking)

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Other Nautical articles by Ron Masters:
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► Mast, Sails and Sky - Sailing on the Tall Ship, Manitou - (Click Here)
► History's Worst Maritime Disaster - Think It's the Titanic? You're Not Even Close (Click here)
► The Burning Vessel Miss Kaitlyn Sinks in Indian River - (Click Here)
► The Search for 12 Lost Submarines from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea - (Click Here)
► The Uninvited Wedding Guest - A Ski Boat! (Click here)
► Would You Let Your 16-yr old Sail Solo Around The World? The story of Robin Lee Graham. (Click here)
► The Rescue - a fictional short story involving a tall ship (Click here)