Friday, April 6th, 2018
It’s beautiful weather here in Galveston, Texas for the first ever TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Gulf Coast Race Series! Crew members and event staff alike are all super excited to be here. We could not have asked for better weather for yesterday’s Parade of Sail. I watched some superb seamanship from the deck of Galveston’s own historic Tall Ship, Elissa. What a show! I especially enjoyed seeing Lynx, a square topsail schooner, set her split course sail from her lower yard. She might as well have been a brigantine! I got some exceptional photos – see below

Elissa volunteer crew members unfurling the fore topsails

From left to right: Oliver Hazard Perry, When and If, Lynx
Towards the end of the parade, the sun finally hid behind the clouds, but not before leaving me with a quality sunburn. As the sky darkened, the waves grew longer, and the ships began to come into port. We were very lucky the weather never got worse than a few raindrops here and there. After a long day of fair winds and great sailing, Elissa finished with masterful docking maneuvers, and we ended the day at a party for the ship’s crew members.
Today has been non-stop activity, since before the festival even kicked off. It has been a constant scramble to get video’s for social media, or lug boxes of Tall Ships America directories to the ships, among other things, but it wouldn’t be a tall ships festival without a bit of running around. All in all, everyone is looking forward to the inevitable success of Tall Ships® Galveston, and what that means for Sail Training – building awareness and helping to build community. That’s all from me for today, but you can follow the event news on your own at http://www.galvestonhistory.org/events/tall-ships-galveston-2.
-James Rogers
Like this:
Like Loading...