Ahoy! Denis Sullivan Coming back to St. Croix

World Ocean School’s tall ship replica, Denis Sullivan, the sister ship to the Roseway, will be coming to her winter resting place in Christiansted Harbor this November after making the long, arduous voyage from her home base in Boston, Massachusetts.

The S/V Denis Sullivan is a three-masted, wooden, gaff rigged schooner originally from Milwaukee,Wisconsin. She was a flagship of both the state of Wisconsin and the United Nations Environment Programme until she was sold to the World Ocean School and moved to Boston in 2022.

She weighs 97 tons, and measures 137 ft overall with a 98 ft deck. She carries ten sails and is also propelled by two 180 HP auxiliary engines. Denis Sullivan can accommodate 31 persons overnight and 60 on day sails including the crew of ten sailors. This amazing replica is currently used as an education, sail training and tourist vessel. 

The construction of the Denis Sullivan was first proposed in 1991 by a group of Milwaukee residents and volunteers from other states. Their plan was to build a tall ship which would serve as a platform for educating people about the Great Lakes. Almost a thousand people donated a million volunteer hours toward Denis Sullivan’s construction. She was completed and launched in June of 2000 and departed Milwaukee on her first sail to the Caribbean in November of 2000. Shortly thereafter, iconic folk singer Pete Seeger immortalized her in a song called “The Schooner Denis Sullivan.”     

“This is the song that Pete Seeger wrote for the Denis Sullivan on April 19, 2001,” Jeff Phillips of Milwaukee’s Discovery World explained a bit of the backstory. “The Denis Sullivan had been heading back to Milwaukee after winter programming in Florida and Bahamas. Pete met us at the 79th Street Dock in New York City… Pete also came to visit us in the late 1990s - along with his wife Toshi - and spent the day with us (in Milwaukee) singing songs and encouraging the then-building of the Denis Sullivan. Pete had been involved with sloop Clearwater in Beacon, N.Y.”

“Come gather round good people, a song we will sing to you, of the schooner Denis Sullivan and how we built her true, in the city of Milwaukee way back in ‘89, a few hopeful men and women volunteered their time… but if we work together, no matter where we come from, who knows what kind of miracles there are still yet to come.” Pete Seeger, Songs of the S/V Denis Sullivan. 

The Denis Sullivan is not a replica of a specific vessel, rather, her design is inspired by that of the Great Lakes cargo schooners of the 19th century. Like many of those schooners, she carries a raffee, a square- rigged fore topsail which is triangular in shape.

“We’re thrilled to be bringing Denis Sullivan back to St. Croix,” President and Executive Director of World Ocean School Eden Leonard said. “The community gave her such a warm welcome last year and we can’t wait to introduce her to even more of our supporters and friends.”

World Ocean School’s schooner Roseway, a National Historic Landmark, has been coming to St. Croix for sixteen years but is currently at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut, awaiting a large preservation project. 

When World Ocean School recently returned to the island of St. Croix with schooner Denis Sullivan it hosted 238 students on board for multi-day programming during the winter season and over 1,300 passengers during sunset and harbor sails. 

“It was very enjoyable,” Jack Pickel, owner of the historic Club Comanche Hotel in downtown Christiansted, told the St. Croix Times. “I recommend everybody go on the sunset cruise. It’s a great way to see St. Croix from the water. It’s beautiful. But bring a wrap, it gets chilly.”  

After her November 2025 arrival, Denis Sullivan will welcome many students from St. Croix until her departure in March of 2026. Students will participate in multi-day programs to learn how to take care of a wooden tall ship and raise the sails, all while learning team-building skills and seeing academics come to life. Crew members on board Denis Sullivan, the Deckhand Educators, provide lessons while the ship is underway. 

An entry from the Ship’s Log on November 9, 2023, written by Deckhand Educator Maeve Merle-Scotland, seven days after Denis Sullivan left Boston Harbor on its voyage to St. Croix, reads:

“Yesterday marked the new Deckhand’s one week aboard the Denis Sullivan. It is amazing how much more accustomed to boat life we newbies have all become. With the first few days of information and program overview out of the way, the new crew has been able to be a part of the all-hands-on-deck maintenance aboard the Denny. Who knew we would learn to fiberglass, go aloft, operate the generator and beyond in just a couple of days!

“Yet, most exciting is our plan to head to St. Croix tomorrow! Woo! We are all stoked for the transit, anxiously anticipating the amount of hurls we take off the side underway, or what the exhaustion feels like to sleep during the day and stay up through the abyss of night. The bright skies, abundance of fish, and open ocean are huge points of excitement for us all. Stay tuned for how transit goes aboard the Denis Sullivan.”  

The public is encouraged to join the crew and sail around Christiansted Harbor when Denis Sullivan arrives in November.

We’re looking forward to greeting you Denny! It’s always a thrill to see you at rest in our Harbor!