The Dutch barque EUROPA left her overnight berth in the Simon’s Town Outer Harbour at 11h00 hrs on Tuesday and, most unusually, without tug assistance made her way into the Still Water Harbour under her own auxiliary power, reports David Erickson.

“With twin screws and a bow thruster at her disposal I guess she is pretty manoeuvrable, and the weather conditions were dead calm. The first picture was taken at 11h40 hrs and the second one at 13h53 hrs – the Dockyard Crew run a slick operation here at Simon’s Town!

“It is however somewhat strange to see masts, yards and furled sails in amongst the modern naval paraphernalia of stealth technology!”

Pictures by David Erickson