~an evening spent wandering Tall Ships~

But O the ship, the immortal ship! O ship aboard the ship!
Ship of the body, ship of the soul, voyaging, voyaging, voyaging.

from Aboard at a Ship's Helm by Walt Whitman

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~U.S.C.G. Barque EAGLE (with what I think is the Schooner Virginia in the background)~

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Two years ago, I posted images of several Tall Ships leaving the Charleston Harbor (here and here) - for those of you not familiar with Tall Ships, you might want to look here.  It was wonderful then, watching them leave the Charleston Harbor - but last night I attended the International Tall Ships Soiree.  It was a beautiful evening - there was a nice breeze, plenty of food and drink - and I had the opportunity to walk around three of the Tall Ships for a long evening.  The evening was part of Charleston Harborfest 2009 - and if you ever want to plan a visit to Charleston, this would be a wonderful weekend to visit the city.

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~U.S.C.G. Barque EAGLE~

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When we first arrived, it was still light - although the sun had just set.

I think the first thing that I noticed was how large these vessels were - for example, the EAGLE's sparred length is 295 feet.

You can see a list of the Tall Ships that visited Charleston this weekend here - with some information about each ship listed. 

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~looking out towards the Capitan Miranda~

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~the festive Capitan Miranda~

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I think the most festive boat of the evening was the Capitan Miranda - it not only had raised a decorative, brightly-colored sail, but it was also brightly lit - and as darkness fell, it definitely stood out.

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~looking out over the deck of the Kruzenshtern~

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I really liked this blurry view of the event from one of the decks of the Russian ship, Kruzenshtern.  There was quite a crowd for the whole evening - and you could still see the tents of the food vendors lined up along the walkway (these were open during the daytime events). 

If you've never gotten a chance to see these ships - either under sail or docked - it is something worth seeing.   I've always thought there was something primitive about large sailing vessels - oh, even small ones I suppose.  Perhaps Whitman had it right - we're all on a voyage of some kind, and under sail. 

Comments

[joan]

Wow! What a treat. I love that first shot. I went down this morning but there were so many people and I didn't have enough time to make it worth buying a ticket.

[Les]

They usually visit Norfolk each year, and I think they will be here next weekend for the 4th. I am fascinated by these ships and try to imagine what the world was like when these were the jumbo jets of the day. I have scads of old-school photos taken of tall ships.

The schooner Virginia was built here and all the school kids got to go see it under constuction and afterward. Of course all the visits had to be combined with their SOLs (standards of learning). When did experiencing something just for experience's sake cease becoming part of a child's education?

[Vera]

The nighttime photos are beautiful and so festive. Looks like a great time.

[Janet]

I love seeing the Tall Ships. It has been a while since I went on one...think it was before I was married and we lived on Fort Monroe. (Virginia) It is really remarkable to see them and to get a chance to roam around on them. What workmanship!

[Pam]

Joan, I'm so glad that they visit our little harbor. It really is a treat to see them.

Les, Charleston's Tall Ship - the Pride of South Carolina - has definitely been used by some local schools for learning experiences - there are even several day/week-long excursions that they go out on. I don't know what schools have access to this opportunity (and if I had to guess, I'm guessing some of the public schools aren't doing this because there class size is big - just guessing though).

Vera, it was really beautiful - and definitely festive!

Janet, they are quite amazing. Some of them had the most gorgeously put away lines, in very elaborate coils and figure eight patterns. They were all just spotless too - the care and maintenance of these things must be constant. I can't even imagine!

[Dragonfly Lady]

I worked on the Lord Nelson several years ago, we had several American sail with us.. check it out http://www.jst.org.uk/ you too can sail with them!!