The SSV ''Tole Mour'' was a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

and

sail training From its modern interpretations to its antecedents when maritime nations would send young naval officer candidates to sea (e.g., see Outward Bound), sail training provides an unconventional and effective way of building many useful skills on an ...

vessel operating in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

of California, off the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

. Designed by Ewbank, Brooke and Associates, she was built by the Nichols Bros. Boat Builders on

Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington State. (The other large island is Camano Island, ...

in Washington's

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

to withstand the extreme conditions of the South Pacific, she is extremely seaworthy and meets or exceeds all of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

's regulations as a Sailing School Vessel, while offering luxurious accommodations in comparison to other

tall ship A tall ship is a large, traditionally- rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a race or fe ...

s. At 229 gross registered tons she is the largest active tall ship on the West Coast. The ''Tole Mour'' was originally commissioned by the Marimed Foundation of Hawai’i in 1988 as a self-contained primary health care support vessel, operating in the US trust territory protectorate of the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

. The name of the ship was selected by a competition of Marshall Islands school children, and means 'A Gift of Life and Health' in the

Marshallese language The Marshallese language ( mh, Kajin M̧ajeļ, link=no or ), also known as Ebon, is a Micronesian language spoken in the Marshall Islands. Spoken by the ethnic Marshallese people, the language is spoken by nearly the country's entire populatio ...

. With onboard

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

, dental and

ophthalmological Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

offices, the ''Tole Mour'' provided

services to over 15,000 islanders over a period of 4 years, until the Marshallese government commissioned their own fleet of medical delivery vessels and the ''Tole Mour'' returned to Hawai’i to serve other purposes. In 2001, she was acquired Guided Discoveries'

Catalina Island Marine Institute The Catalina Island Marine Institute (CIMI) is a non-profit educational program founded in 1979 and run by Guided Discoveries on Santa Catalina Island, California. It is the host to approximately 15,000 students a year, who visit it in school-orga ...

, offering

oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...

and

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies s ...

education to hundreds of school-aged participants a year. The professional crew was housed in up into 6 double cabins and 2 master rooms within her 123 feet on deck and

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

. Up to 36 youth participants could be accommodated in cabins housing 4, 8 and 10 berths. Her previous medical requirements provided areas for laboratory equipment, touch tanks, and

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

s. In 2014, the ''Tole Mour'' was sold to Island Windjammers, a charter cruise company operating in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. She underwent a refitting, as well as a name change, and is now known as ''Vela''.

References

{{Reflist

External links

CIMI Tallship ExpeditionsMarimed FoundationThe American Sail Training AssociationEwbank Naval Architects formerly Ewbank Brooke & Associates
Schooners of the United States Individual sailing vessels Training ships Sail training ships Tall ships of the United States Three-masted ships 1988 ships Ships built in Washington (state)

See also

References

External links