Oh man, Now I’ve got my Senior Year to Finish!

Woah, Talk about the best summer of my life! I can’t believe I’m here at Earlham College after all the sailing adventures. I’m trying to get used to school but the change is so weird. Everyone keeps asking me, “hey alex, why do you keep wearing that same Red shirt everyday that says Offical Race Team? Everything you wear says ASTA on it, why?” I respond in, “well, I just got off a boat…”

Foam Cheese, REO and the Windy City or, How I spent my summer vacation

It wasn’t really a vacation but because of a fabulous race team it was pretty close. The enthusiasm of the ports, ships, visitors and my interns was inspiring and energizing. I am sitting in our Newport, RI office looking out at the pouring rain and wishing I was back in the booth talking to all the passers-by again. Even though the heat was oppressive at times, most of the people that I saw, either waiting in line or watching the Parades of Sail in, looked thrilled to be participating in such a unique event.

My first port was Cleveland, and it set the precendent for the rest of the summer.

2006 TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE Series – Bon Voyage!

Yesterday marked the final festival day of the 2006 TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE Series. The tall ships left Chicago today for ports unknown and the ASTA Race Team is piloting the land schooner back to Newport.

It was a great summer in the Great Lakes!

Millions of fond memories were created by the tall ships and the crews and trainees had wonderful experiences in each city.

Starting in Cleveland as part the Huntington Cleveland Harborfest, the fleet enjoyed one of the tour’s most picturesque settings at the foot of Ninth Street and next to the wonderful facilities provided by our port organizing partners Great Lakes Science Center and The William G. Mather Steamship Museum. There were more Captain Jack Sparrows per capita than any other city in America that weekend! Hmmm, I wonder why?

It’s like the end of an ERA…

I am sitting in the ASTA office here in Chicago coming to terms with the fact that this is my last official day as a 2006 Intern…sigh. I cannot even begin to describe what an amazing experience this has been, and the only reason that I am not extremely sad right now is because I am fortunate enough to be sailing aboard Niagara until Port Huron.

CHICAGO!!!

We are in Chicago…we arrived yesterday and the ships are arriving as we speak! Our office is just outside of the Chicago River where half of the ships will be docked (the other half will be docked at Navy Pier.)

Unfortunately the weather is kind of rainy, but that means that the heat broke which is something to smile about! The parade of sail went quite well, the ships looked gorgeous as they mustered outside of the harbor, it was really different being ashore as they came into Chicago and it definintely gave me a new perspective as to what an attraction these tall ships really are. Alex is still aboard Appledore V and I hope that she is having an amazing time, sailing into Chicago is definitely something that she will never forget. Mary had to go home for a few days because of something with school, hopefully she will be back soon to enjoy this beautiful city and what is sure to be an amazing port!

Erin and I sat in the rain and watched as Niagara andFriends Good Will came into the river. It was amazing to see a ship do a three point turn in the middle of a river…a feat that some people cannot even do in a car!

Pictures will be up soon, from both the beginning of the last race (which was from Green Bay to Sturgeon Bay) and from the ships here in Chicago! That is all I have for updates right now, check back soon because there will be lots going on here in the Windy City!!

Tall Ships® Chicago Podcast Audio Tour

Tall Ships Chicago is the next and final stop for the 2006 TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE Series and we have created an informative audio tour of the ships including interviews with captains and great sea music for your enjoyment. You can download the file by following these instructions:

To take this podcast with you to the festival and play it on your iPod:

1. right click on this link – http://www.sailtraining.org/Podcasts/Chicago.wma and “Save” the file in to your music folder or desktop (this is a 36MB file so it could take some time!)
2. open iTunes
3. click “File” and then click “Add file to library”
4. find and select the downloaded file which will be called “huntingtonclevelandharborfest.wav”
5. a pop up will advise that you will need to convert the file to AAC Format to add it to the iTunes Library, select “Convert”
6. after the conversion takes place, click “File” and then “Update iPod” and the file will be added to your iPod for listening at the festival.

You can also listen to the podcast as streaming audio on your computer directly through your Windows Media Player by just clicking on http://www.sailtraining.org/Podcasts/Chicago.wma. This should open Windows Media Player.

There is an accompanying Guide in PDF format that can be downloaded by clicking on (coming soon)

All of this information can be found on the home page of the ASTA website or directly at http://www.sailtraining.org/contribute/TSCH2006Podcasts.htm

We know you’ll enjoy the festival and we hope that this podcast provides you with a richer experience and a better understanding of the tall ships!

TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE tv – Episode 2 – Sailing on the US Brig Niagara (July 21-23,2006)

This video was shot by ASTA Summer Intern Alexandra Hagerty during the transit between Bay City, MI and Green Bay, WI during the 2006 TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE Series.

Sailing to Chicago Aboard the US Brig NIAGARA – Chicago Tribune Slide Show

 Here’s a link to a great slide show of life aboard US Brig Niagara as she recently sailed to Chicago. (Click here).