The last strip of European soil is now far from days, while the school ship Amerigo Vespucci is in search of the "Atlantic path" to the coasts of the United States: the trade winds.
Always used by navigators, the trade winds have allowed large ocean crossings to the west allowing, among others, Christopher Columbus to travel to the Indies to discover America.
Due to a strong warming of the earth's surface along the equatorial zone, the trade winds blow in the northern hemisphere from north-east to south-west and in the southern hemisphere from south-east to north-west. The alternation between the tropics and the high and low pressure equator, the so-called "baric gradient" forms the trade winds, while the direction of these constant winds is the effect of the earth's rotation.
The Anglo-Saxon name of these winds is "Trade Winds", "trade winds" that reminds us of how the sailors who retraced the journey that was of Christopher Columbus used them to exchange goods between the old and the new world.
Ship Vespucci, en route to the west, is looking for this Atlantic path: a unique opportunity for the crew and for the students of the 24th VFP4 course who are facing navigation with enthusiasm and passion. The crossing will bring the "Lady of the Seas" to the new continent after 16 years, first landing on the island of Bermuda and then heading to Canada and the United States, bringing some of the many Made in Italy excellence to the world.
With all its majesty, the Vespucci continue to follow the route to reach the city of Hamilton (Bermuda), the third stop of the 2017 Education campaign, where there will be many visitors waiting for you curious to admire the jewel of the Italian navy, which maintains an unchanged charm in a reality where the technology is predominant.
The ship will also take part in many important institutional commitments including the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Canadian confederation in Montreal, and a visit to the UNICEF headquarters in New York. In fact, Nave Vespucci is particularly linked to the UN Agency, having been its ambassador since 2007. In every port visited it proudly waves its flag and symbolically delivering a message of peace, solidarity and hope.
