Five Minutes With… The Galeon Andalucia Crew
We chat to Galeón Andalucía crew member Jaye Lunsford to find out more about the floating museum
Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you may have noticed that a huge galleon has taken up residence on the River Tyne at Spillers Quay.
That vessel is Galeón Andalucía – a stunning replica of a 17th century Spanish galleon that acts as a floating museum to teach visitors what life was like fo rSpanish sailors, explorers and traders back in the 16th to 18th centuries.
We stopped by the ship to chat with Colorado-born crew member Jaye Lunsford to find out more about Galeón Andalucía and what people can expect when they visit.
How long have you been a part of the Galeon Andalucia crew?
I’ve been with Galeón Andalucía on and off since 2014 and this is my fifth three-month tour of duty on the ship. I ran into the galleon when my husband and I, who live on a sailboat, were in Florida. I was literally standing in line to pick up my mail and chatting with the person next to me who turned out to be the manager of the ship. It was obvious that it was supposed to happen!
Tell us a bit more about the ship and your crewmates.
Galeón Andalucía was built in Huelva in southwestern Spain in 2009 and since then we’ve travelled about 100,000 nautical miles. I personally have been aboard for almost 12,000 of those miles. Most of the crew are volunteers – we get paid in adventure instead of money!
The ship weighs 500 tonnes and we’re a full-size galleon - they could be anywhere from 130 to 200 feet long and we’re right in the middle at 170 feet long. In historic times, the ship would’ve had a crew of 60 or 70 sailors but right now we’re sailing with a crew of around 25. And unlike Spanish sailors centuries ago, we have radar and GPS!
What do you love about working aboard the Galeon Andalucia?
The number one thing I love is my crewmates because everybody is passionate and excited and exciting. I like the travel, I like the sailing and I like using Galeón Andalucía as a platform to talk about the historic context of the ship to visitors.
What can people expect when they visit Galeon Andalucia?
We have five different decks to explore showing how both common sailors lived and worked and how the captain and officers lived. There’s a free audio guide that explains more about the ship’s exhibitions and objects and the crew are here to answer any questions.
Visitors will get a little sense of what life was like on one of these ships. You can read books about this era and you can study this era, but until you actually walk on the decks you don’t get a real sense of it in your head. The Galeón Andalucía brings that era to life.
Have you visited Newcastle before?
Very, very briefly – the bus station only! So I’m really looking forward to experiencing some of the things that people have told me about its old castle and the recent renovations of the city. I can’t wait to check some of that out on my day off.
Where else in the world will you be going on your travels?
Right now, the Galeon Andalucia is touring down the east coast of the UK – Whitby, Scarborough, Ramsgate – and then sailing around to Poole. The ship is then going to Rotterman and Bremerhaven and there’s some talk of the Mediterranean in the winter. I’ve been hearing whispers of the ship crossing the Atlantic again and I’d definitely be down for spending a winter in the Caribbean!
If you could give one reason why people should visit Galeon Andalucia, what would it be?
I think you’re going to leave with a different sense of history than you had when you came here. Plus, it’s a really good photo opportunity – we get people who come aboard just wanting a selfie and they leave with a full understanding of that era of Spanish history!
Galeón Andalucía is docked at Spillers Quay until 7th July 2024. For more information, check out our guide Everything You Need to Know About… Galeon Andalucia or visit https://tickets.velacuadra.es/ to book tickets.
