File:Halifax DSC08321 - El Galeón & Mist of Avalon (36330961965).jpg

English: From Spain, built between 2009 - 2010, 48.7 m (160ft) in length.

Galleons, used by the Spanish Crown for maritime expeditions from the 16th to 18th centuries, were fabled merchant vessels and war ships that made up the early navies of Europe. El Galeón, commissioned by the Nao Victoria Foundation, was launched in 2009. The 500-ton, 48.7 m (160ft) long vessel has a 9.75 m (32ft) beam and its four masts hold six sails that measure nearly 11,000 square feet. Converted into a floating museum, five of the vessel’s six decks are available for tours. The vessel carries an all-Spanish crew that lives and breathes the history of the ship and its travels from port to port and in the open sea.

Mist of Avalon:

The ship began her life in 1967 as the Motor Vessel “Liverpool Bay”. She was built at MacLean Shipbuilding, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. The ship fished the Banks off Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, fishing for cod. After twenty years and with fish stocks, in 1987 it was left abandoned at a Halifax pier.

In December 1992 began the ship’s new life as “Mist of Avalon”, named for the mystic Celtic island of re-birth. The Ship was purchased and in July 1993, she left Nova Scotia for her new home port at Holidays Afloat Marina in Ivy Lea, Ontario, Canada. Work continued on the conversion from motor vessel to a fully rigged sailing vessel in the tradition of the late 19th century Grand Banks schooners.

Class: B Nationality: Canada Length: 22.08 m (72.4ft) Rig: Gaff Schooner 2 Year of built: 1967

Home port: Ivy Lea, Ontario