A tall ship built for the sole purpose of enabling the disabled to sail has arrived in Bermuda on a stopover to Europe.

The 125-foot long barque Tenacious is the largest and only wooden-hulled ship of its kind built in the 20th Century.

It is equipped with lifting devices for the disabled, and sound and arrow markings for the blind.

The tall-ship made the journey from Antigua, stopping briefly in St. Maarten, and came straight to the Island, arriving in St. George's Harbour on Saturday.

The vessel has since moved to Hamilton.

Captain John Etheridge said: "We had fair winds so the journey was smooth and calm most of the way.

"On the last day of the journey, we were hit with high winds and rain out of the north."

The journey from St. Maarten to Bermuda lasted six days and six nights.

The tall ship left Antigua on February 21, and stopped in St. Maarten for 24 hours to get fuel and stores.

The vessel, which has 41 crew on board - 20 of them disabled - will leave Bermuda on March 12 and travel to the Azores, and will then make its way to Southampton, England.

But Mr. Etheridge will not be making the rest of the journey with his mates. He is flying out of the Island today, and a new captain will take the Tenacious and her crew on the remainder of the voyage.

"We usually travel with 50 people on board, of whom ten are permanent crew, twenty are disabled and the other twenty are able-bodied or voyager crew," added Mr. Etheridge.

The Tenacious was the brainchild of Christopher Rudd, who dreamed up the concept in 1977, and was awarded funds that year as part of the Queen's Silver Jubilee charity donations to mark the special anniversary.

The ship took four years to build and was mainly constructed by teams of able-bodied and physically disabled volunteers, who worked alongside dedicated and professional shipwrights in a specially-built shipyard in Southampton, England.

Volunteer Derek Becraft said: "The ship has lifts (elevators) to carry the disabled crew to and from the upper and lower decks.

"The disabled crew help with whatever they can; whether it is hoisting anchor or the sails.

"They also steer the boat, and there is a steering chair for people who cannot stand for very long."

Mr. Becraft said when steering, they had to either read the compass or listen to the compass point speaker-phone.

"The compass is especially set, but if a person is partially sighted or if someone is completely blind, there is a speaker which tells them the course. And for the partially sighted, there is a screen with large numbers," said Mr. Becraft.

"Sometimes the blind crew members are even better than the sighted ones; they don't sit up and look at schools of dolphins."

Mr. Becraft said the disabled crew members got hoisted aloft up onto the masts to either help lower or lift the sails.

And they were expected to take part in many other day-to-day tasks on board the vessel.

"They help with scrubbing the deck, tying the halyards, winches, cooking, cleaning and anything else that they can be of assistance with, and we all work in four six-hour shifts," he added.

"The ship also features places where wheelchairs can be clamped into place."

All of the 20 disabled crew have someone who has been paired with them.

"Every disabled person on board has a buddy, who helps them both in and out of bed if they need assistance or with whatever their needs are," said Mr. Becraft.

"Some people need more assistance than others. When I first came on the ship, I was terrified to go up on the mast to hoist the sails, until I saw a man walking around up there with a prosthetic leg.

"I thought to myself, if he can do it, so can I.

"We learn so much from each other."

The Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST) has found that the experience of living and working alongside each other builds confidence and leads to greater understanding of mutual abilities, qualities and interests, which can help break down the barriers of ignorance so often associated to physical disabilities.

The Tenacious was commissioned to cater for an ever-increasing demand for accessible and integrated sailing holidays and set out from Southampton in England on her maiden voyage on September 1, 2000.

It will be open to the public on Saturday and is moored in front of the Flag Pole on Front Street.