The Jeanie Johnston replica famine ship is scheduled to set sail tomorrow for the American continent from Tenerife.
She spent the last week in the Canary Islands, after a brief stop on the island of Madeira and having battled the Atlantic winds and changeable conditions with the aid of her engines, since setting out from Fenit in Co Kerry in mid-February.
The ship has taken on a new complement of 25 sail-trainees for the crossing. Four of the sail trainees remain on board since Fenit. All the trainees are in fact paying passengers who are also expected to help out a good deal on board. The cost of this leg of the journey is €3,500.
Mr Denis Reen, chief executive of the Jeanie Johnston project, said demand was such that their places could have been filled many times over.
The International Fund for Ireland is paying for the passage of a further 15 young, unemployed people, on the transatlantic voyage under its Wider Horizons programme. This programme aims to give young people between the ages of 18 and 28 from disadvantaged backgrounds new opportunities.
Drawn from the "Border Horizons" programme in Derry and Donegal, the new 15 sail trainees from both communities replace others from Belfast, Dublin and Tralee who sailed from Fenit.
Reports from on board ship indicate a tough voyage so far, but one which has shown great spirit and camaraderie among the trainees and the 11 professional crew under Captain Tom McCarthy. In all some 40 will travel to the US.