Built in 1913 by G and T Smith in Rye, Keewaydin is a Lowestoft Sailing Smack. She is oak on oak, 23.5m in length, 6m beam, 3m draught and is gaff rigged. She fished out of Padstow from 1919 to 21, with the early years mainly trawling the banks of the North Sea. In 1937, she became a cargo vessel sailing the Baltic Sea. During the Second World War, Keewaydin ferried refugees from Denmark to neutral Sweden and in one particular trip, transported 420 commandos to their destination. She was converted into a yacht in 1963 and had the distinction of entering the very first Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1972. After being used for many years as a charter ship in the Mediterranean, she was bought in Malta during 1998 by Paul Welch, who’s still her present owner. She has now moved home ports from Cardigan to Falmouth. Keewaydin means the home wind, the North West wind. This is from the Longfellows epic1855 poem ‘the song of Hiawatha’. Paul wants to promote a more sustainable way of travel and carrying cargo. Last year, she brought a cargo full of onions complete with onion johnnies to the Cornish shores.