- Local News for Southern Sailors - June 2002 Next Story
Tall ships come to Tampa Bay
By Doran Cushing
It's almost a misnomer to call them tall ships...these suckers are tall, wide, and long — HUGE by most sailing standards. A half dozen or more tall ships will be coming to Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg in late June in a spectacle of traditional working sailboats which likely has never been seen on Florida's west coast.
As a part of America's Sail 2002, which included a race from Curacao to Jamaica, St. Petersburg will host the ships and hundreds of the crew June 26 to July 1. The fleet is scheduled to assemble June 26, anchoring near the mouth of Tampa Bay. A parade of sail opens the festivities June 27 as an armada of private and commercial boats will escort the tall ships along the St. Petersburg waterfront from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. The visiting ships will dock at the Port of St. Petersburg and USF's St. Petersburg campus on Bayboro Harbor.
The maritime festival will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through the weekend with entertainment, exhibits, international food vendors, nautical arts and crafts, and commemorative merchandise. A black-tie dinner and dance at the Captain's Ball will be hosted by the TradeWinds Sirata Resort on St. Pete Beach Saturday evening, June 29. A fireworks show will close the venue Sunday evening with the ships departing Monday, July 1.
Among the international ships scheduled to stop at Tampa Bay are the 270-foot Cisne Branco, the training vessel for the Brazilian navy with accommodations for a crew of 78 including officers, seamen, and midshipmen. The Venezuelan navy will be represented by their own 270-foot training ship, the Simon Bolivar, which has a beam of 35 feet and draws 14' 6"...not your ideal west Florida cruising boat.
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Other ships signed up include the 120-foot Insuline, the 64-foot Larinda, and the 74-foot schooner Wolf, which is based in Key West. The smallest vessel in the fleet is the 54-foot wooden brigantine Meka II, privately owned and sailed with a crew of two.
Tickets for admission to the festival site at the port, for tours of the vessels, and for the landside parties, are available from St. Petersburg Events at (727) 825-3797 or www.stpetetallships.com. There are discounts available for families as well as advance purchase savings for all events. Volunteers are needed to support the shoreside activities. Contact Sue Cooper-Street Fowler at (727) 388-1045 for details.
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