Coronavirus: Students finally arrive home after traveling by schooner from Caribbean

Dutch teens cheer on their schooner Wylde Swan after sailing home from the Caribbean across the Atlantic when coronavirus lockdowns prevented them flying, in the port of Harlingen, northern Netherlands, Sunday, April 26, 2020.

Credit: AP Photo/Peter Dejong

Credit: AP Photo/Peter Dejong

Dutch teens cheer on their schooner Wylde Swan after sailing home from the Caribbean across the Atlantic when coronavirus lockdowns prevented them flying, in the port of Harlingen, northern Netherlands, Sunday, April 26, 2020.
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By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
April 27, 2020
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A group of 25 teenagers who were supposed to be part of a six-week sail-study program has finally arrived home.

The teens from the Netherlands had tried to get home from Cuba once the coronavirus pandemic started via more traditional means, but airline rules kept them grounded, Reuters reported.

So, they sailed home from the Caribbean on a two-mast schooner, the Wylde Swan.

The students, along with the 12 crew members and three teachers, packed the 200-foot ship with warm clothes and supplies, The Associated Press reported.

It took them five weeks to cross the Atlantic, a 4,300-mile trip, Reuters reported.

When they finally got back to Harlingen, Netherlands, their parents greeted them with flares and a cloud of orange smoke, the AP reported.

The trip, while long, also gave the students a chance to do things they may never have done otherwise. They called it the bucket list and it had items across off like Atlantic Ocean crossing, mid-ocean swim and surviving the Bermuda Triangle, the AP reported.

The company that sponsored the trip, Masterskip, said the students kept learning while sailing the sea.

"The children learned a lot about captivity, also about media attention, but also their normal school work. So they are actually far ahead now of their Dutch school colleagues. They have made us very proud," Christophe Meijer told the AP.

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About the Author

Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk