Bermuda's only tall ship, the Christian Venturer , and her skipper Bobby Doe have led an extraordinary, adventurous and sometimes dangerous life upon the high seas.

Such has been the scope of the Christian Venturer's far flung activities that such disparate persons as European royalty, troubled French Candian reform school boys, and Jewish emigres fleeing Russia have had occasion to hold her in high regard.

The three-masted staysail schooner, which is 72 feet overall from bowsprit to boomkin, was designed and built by Bermudians Bill Nash and Bobby Doe. She gradually took shape over some 18 months in an abandoned ex-Admiralty shed on Boaz Island.

In 1978 she was launched down an old sea-plane ramp and began her extraordinary voyages.

Tall Ships Races In 1980 Bobby Doe skippered the Christian Venturer in the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race from Boston to Norway, and was presented with the Admiral Perry Bowl for placing second overall. She thus became the only Bermudian boat to ever win a trophy in a tall ships race.

"Operation Sail was a continuation of the Norway race which we took part in,'' Mr. Doe recalled. "There were over a thousand ships! We raced to Sweden, then to Denmark and Holland. We placed second in class and fourth over the line. Queen Beatrice herself presented the prize!'' The Christian Venturer also participated in the 1984 Tall Ships Race, in which she again brought honour to Bermuda. She was second in her class and fourth overall across the line in the Bermuda-Halifax leg.

"I particularly remember motoring out to the start of the race through Town Cut,'' the skipper's wife Fiona Doe recalled. "Gates Fort was completely covered with people who started cheering wildly and clapping for us as we went by. It made us feel very proud to be Bermudian.'' Her husband was more focused on how the crew was shaking out and safety on starting line crowded with tall ships, press and spectator boats.

"When we were designing and building the Christian Venturer , our primary consideration was safety not speed,'' he said. "She turned out faster than expected.'' The Inspiration The Christian Venturer became a twinkle in Mr. Doe's eye only after he had a deep religious experience in which he accepted the Lord as his Saviour.

"I was thanking the Lord and asking him what I could do for him,'' Mr. Doe related. "This quiet voice within me said that I should build a boat that would go from Russia to Isreal. This was not as strange as Noah being asked to build an ark with no water in sight, but it was certainly odd. You can well imagine my thoughts!'' Mr. Doe had no money with which to build a large tall ship, but all was provided in two weeks! Praying for guidance, Mr. Doe said the Lord directed him to the office of Morris White, a man he knew only slightly.

"I went to his office feeling foolish,'' Mr. Doe recalled, "He was in, which in itself was remarkable as he is harder to catch than a blue tail fly. I just blurted out my request. While I was telling him my story I noticed he was writing something down on his desk. When I finished talking, he just handed me a large cheque!'' Mr Doe also had a piece of land on Grace Island, on which he had put only a small amount of money down. He had no building permit and just used it for camping out. He went to the late Bob Burns' real estate office and and asked him if he would sell it. Mr. Burns told him that there was a slump in the market and he doubted he could unload it for him. The very next day, out of the blue, a man walked into Mr. Burns' office and offered a great price for the land! Bobby Doe's Christian Venturer has had an adventurous time Mr. Doe also had a fishing boat, an asset he had been thinking of selling for about $5,000. He was busy working on the boat one day when a man came along, leaned over the railing and asked if the boat is for sale. When Bobby asked him what he was prepared to offer for it, the man said, "How about $5,000!'' "He had all the money in small bills in his pocket and paid me on the spot,'' Mr Doe said. "I'll never forget taking all that cash up to the house.

"So it only took about two weeks to get started,he said. Bill Nash is also a Christian believer and he was the pricipal designer. He also helped me to lay the fibreglass hull together -- a hull that size needs two people -- and to do the deck work and I put the rest together. It was all finsihed in 18 months.'' Youth Work In the Does' opinion, winning tall ships races is the least significant thing the Christian Venturer does. For the first ten years, between tall ships races, the Christian Venturer took youth groups out to sea for the character building experience of sail training.

"We got very involved with Young Life here in Bermuda and we would take kids sailing up to their camp in the Carolinas and bring some back down. We also got involved with a French Canadian organisation that worked with disadvantaged kids, kids in reform school.

"We took the Canadian teenagers on a trip across the ocean. The kids have to get down to reality, rely on each other and work as a Tall ship pioneer: Bobby Doe on board the Christian Venturer, the only locally-owned tall ship. The vessel has been successful in Tall Ship Races, and has also been used for humanitarian purposes.