Our Story
Sailing with a mission to make a difference in the lives of others. Read more about our Social Mission and the story behind discovering the Spirit of St. Maarten.
Sailing with a mission to make a difference in the lives of others. Read more about our Social Mission and the story behind discovering the Spirit of St. Maarten.
The Spirit of St. Maarten is the island’s only touristic attraction with a Social Mission to make a difference in the lives of others, serving as a flagship for K1 Britannia’s charitable projects. By sailing with us you help to support K1’s projects for children, vulnerable youths, disaster relief, maritime, and sustainability projects.
The Spirit of St. Maarten is a 114-ft Schooner, designed for luxury, comfort, and variety. It is the only one of its kind on St. Maarten.
The ship offers a unique experience at sea and is designed with a variety of features, allowing our guests to enjoy their experience however they desire.
The Spirit of St. Maarten comes from a village on the central coast of Brazil, where boatbuilding is a legacy passed down from generation to generation. They say “it takes a village to make a boat” because the whole village works together to craft these masterpieces, each one unique and remarkable.
When we found the Spirit of St. Maarten on the riverbed where she’d been built, only two months after she was finished, we knew she was the perfect boat for us. The shipbuilders were excited when we told them how she would be making a difference in the lives of so many on St. Maarten.
Like all boats built in the village, the Spirit of St. Maarten is a truly unique vessel, hand-built by artisans who dedicate themselves to their craft. From a young age, the children in the village are taught the art of wooden boatbuilding by their family and friends in order to become the next generation of master artisans. They use an indigenous wood that grows along with the coastal forests in Brazil, and for each tree they use, they not only make sure to use every part of the tree but plant a new tree to replace it. Thus the boat building done by these villages is not only a timeless tradition, but a sustainable one.
While the people from the village catch their own fish, grow their own food, and have minimal electricity or contact with the outside world, they build artistic wooden boats entirely by hand, using simple tools and traditional methods that have been passed down for ages.
