 Report from the Batkivshchyna |
Received by the UO
by e-mail June 16, 2003
Dear Sir,
Captain Dmytro asked me to send you a brief note about his at long last departure from mainland USA .
He and the Bat'kivshchyna left Long Beach, CA Saturday June 14. They made
a stopover Sunday at the Dana Point Harbor courtesy of the Ocean Institute. There, on Sunday afternoon, on board the schooner a bon-voyage party was held.
The captain invited all the people that in one way or another helped and supported him during his stay in California. Many of the guests made it a pot-luck party by bringing food and drink. The captain in turn handed out nicely prepared thank-you diplomas including a nice aerial photo of the schooner under sail taken by the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Among his supporters, or rather "participants in the expedition", as Captain Dmytro likes to call them, were people from local communities, local businesses, the Ocean Institute at Dana Point, City of Los Angeles councilwoman Hahn, and people he met in his voyages. All these people helped out either by donating goods, monies, services, or facilitating contacts with bureaucracies. In several conversations, Captain Dmytro never failed to express his amazement and gratitude at the cooperation and generosity of Americans.
Monday, June 16, he will be on to Hawaii.
A few photos of the bon-voyage are attached: Thanking Daniel Stetson,
VP & COO of the Ocean Institute, the party, the "zakusky", and sailing away from Dana Point harbor. If there is need, these photos are available in higher resolution.
Sincerely, John Marushak
From Glen Willard
As regular Readers of the UO are aware Captain Dmytro ("Dimitri") Biriukovich and his wife Nina and a group of about 12 other Ukrainian crew left Kyiv on April 7, 2000 headed for a landfall in the United States. They and their 27 meter schooner, the Bat'kivshchyna (the "Fatherland" apparently literally, but referred to as the "Motherland") had been invited to celebrate July 4th 2000 in New York Harbor as a part of the OPSAIL 2000 Tall Ship part of the celebration. The ship's invitation was extended by OpSail as well as the city of New York and President Clinton.
Of the many nations that participated, all sent ships funded with either government or private funding but in all cases supported by their governments. The Bat'kivshchyna went under funded and without support or even recognition by the government of Ukraine. It was a tough go, but a sailing adventure including some mishaps.
The ship's voyage to date has been an immense success. The Bat'kivshchyna has made many friends for itself and the Captain and crew. Moreover, it is accomplishing the objective of the venture as set forth by Captain Dimitri:
It is bringing recognition to Ukraine.
The Captain is proud of his country, his independent nation Ukraine. He tells the story of Ukraine, of its history and people to all he meets.
It is now four years past. The voyage continues. The story will be told wherever the Bat'kivshchyna goes. The voyage is now a worldwide trip. A schedule and objective is set each year. California USA to New Zealand and Australia is 2003. Landfall in New Zealand waters, after some delays in leaving due to visa problems, is planned for sometime in September.
We at the UO will continue to follow Dimitri, Nina and their Ukrainian crew until someday we celebrate together again on arrival in Kyiv.
On these pages are some diagrams of the voyage years 2000 through 2002 and a separate one for scheduled 2003. We believe Readers will find them interesting and maybe excite a few imaginations (and maybe garner some support). Also included are a few pictures.
Readers with access to the Internet can see the pictures and more in color at www.ukraine-observer.com. There is one large beautiful picture of the vessel under sail "running" with two forward sails used as chutes (spinnakers) blowing forward taken by helicopter.
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Read also previous issue' articles:
Bat'kivshchyna News
Bat'kivshchyna reaches Maui
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