460 years after it sank, this ship is almost ready to sail again, thanks in part to Canadian know-how
Rebuilding a Spanish galleon has been Xabier Agote's life's work, and he's close to finishing
In a large covered workshop on the coast of Spain sits Xabier Agote's life's work.
Teams of craftsmen are using hand tools to shape each wooden piece of a Spanish galleon.
It's been hundreds of years since ships like this were built in the Basque Country, and learning how was one of the biggest challenges.
"We are recovering traditional tools, we are using the same type of woods like in the past, mostly oak trees from our nearby forests," Agote told CBC News in a recent interview.
In the 1500s ships like this were common in towns like Pasaia.
Hundreds of Basque shipbuilders would build the ships, which would then head across the Atlantic to hunt whales.
They built the ships from experience and memory. The methods weren't written down and so over the centuries the knowledge of exactly what the ships were like and how they were built was lost.
Help from a small town in Labrador
That all changed in the late 1970s, when Selma Barkham's research led her to the town of Red Bay on Labrador's south coast.
There at the bottom of the harbour, she found what is believed to be the wreck of the San Juan.
In December 1565, the ship was anchored in the harbour, its hold filled with 1,000 barrels of whale oil after a full season of hunting, ready to head back to Europe.
But it broke loose in a storm, sank and was undisturbed for hundreds of years until it was discovered.
The wreck is recognized as one of the best preserved of its era, and Parks Canada carefully recovered all 3,000 pieces of the ship, documenting them.
"They gave us the gift of the secrets of the 16th-century Basque ship building technology that was so important back then," said Agote.
Turning that blueprint into a replica hasn't been easy.
Agote created a school to teach the traditional techniques, a museum to tell the story, and got the backing of UNESCO.
A project that was supposed to take just a few years has now lasted more than a decade — but it's almost done.
It still needs a mast and some rigging, but next year Agote plans to put it in the water.
And that's just the beginning — in 2026, he plans to sail the ship back to Labrador.
Canada-bound in 2026
That voyage has drawn interest on both sides of the Atlantic, with Canadian and Spanish officials meeting in Spain last month to start planning the voyage.
Canada's ambassador to Spain is excited about the potential
"We have this great history that most Canadians, and I would say most Spaniards, most Basque people don't necessarily know about," Wendy Drukier told CBC News.
"It's just a great opportunity to deepen that knowledge and that relationship."
Gran Baya, as the Basques called what is now Red Bay, was a major centre for whaling, starting in the 1530s.
Whales were hunted for their fat, which would be rendered into oil, put into barrels and shipped to Europe, where it was used for lighting.
Hundreds of years later, the red roofing tiles that were brought over as ballast in the ships still line the shores.
Cindy Gibbons was just a high school student when she started helping document the San Juan.
Now she's Parks Canada's cultural resource management adviser. She ran the heritage site in Red Bay for years.
"For me as, you know, someone who grew up in Red Bay and grew up with this site, I'm sure I echo the sentiments of a lot of people from that community that we're really looking forward to this, she said.
"This is a very exciting project."
The provincial minister of Labrador affairs is also excited about the possibility of strengthening ties between two similar peoples, divided by an ocean.
Lisa Dempster says she felt at home as soon as she arrived in Spain.
"With the Basque country I believe as Labradorians we share the adventurous spirit, we share the resilience, we share the strong work ethic, we're sea people and that's what unites us," said Lisa Dempster.
Xabier Agote still has a lot of work to do. He has rope to braid, sails to weave and people to train.
But he's committed to making sure his ship makes the voyage back to Canada.
"We want to celebrate a common heritage, a heritage that goes both ways of the Atlantic, so I think that's the best way to get to know each other," he said.
And when he does make the voyage, people in Labrador will be ready.
"When you leave this harbour, we'll waiting in Red Bay on the wharf," said Dempster.
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