Two Ladies of the Sea

When I was young my father, who spent all his life working with ships, told me that all ships had girl's names. A ship, in his view, was almost an organic being - it had soul, character, beauty.

The Aida Line seems to take the female thing a bit far. This ship, the Aida Aura, a cruise liner of the Aida Line, has lipstick and eye make-up. Aimed at the German youth market, she carries up to 1,266 passengers.

In contrast, this truly beautiful ship, the Georg Stage, has a man's name. She passed Kilchoan yesterday morning, having spent the night in Tobermory, and is pictured below the cliffs at Sron Bheag. Sadly, because we were again enjoying fine weather, she was motoring.

A sail training ship run by a charitable foundation to train cadets for the Danish Merchant Navy, she was built in 1935 and is 298 tons gross. She may be the world's smallest full square-rigger but she has 20 sails deploying a canvas area of 9,250 square feet. Of the 63 cadets which she carries, an average of 20 are women.

There is a good reason for this ship to carry a man's name. Georg Stage, after whom she is named, was the son of the couple who funded the original foundation; the young man died aged 22.