HMS BOUNTY

HMS Bounty and the Privateer Lynx will be in Portsmouth, NH for the annual Tall Ships Portsmouth Festival on Memorial Day weekend from May 29-31. It sounds like a great event.  The local paper reports all the details, which is all well and good. What is a shame but probably unavoidable  is the description of  HMS Bounty as a “”classic pirate ship?”   While any ship could be used for piracy, the Bounty was a converted collier, for goodness sakes, seaworthy but slow.  The Lynx would make a far better pirate ship but that  might trigger the old “pirate vs privateer” discussion which is another topic all together. Oh well.  Shiver me timbers and all that.

Tall ships bring swashbuckling weekend to Portsmouth for Memorial Day, May 29-31

Pirates and swashbucklers delight, a “classic pirate ship” built for the movie “Mutiny on the Bounty” and another wartime replica, the Lynx, will make their way to Portsmouth on Memorial Day Weekend. Visitors will get the chance to board these vessels when the 2010 Tall Ships event makes its debut in the South End.

The Tall Ships event will bring two historic ships to the Portsmouth Commercial Fishing Pier on Peirce Island. Organizers are expecting between 5,000 and 6,000 people, depending on the weather.

The 2010 Tall Ships visit will begin on May 28 with a “boat parade” planned to begin at 1 p.m. The Newmarket Militia will be firing a welcoming cannon salute with return fire from the ships. The boat parade can be best viewed from the “Great Island Commons” and the causeway in New Castle or in Prescott Park, Four Tree Island and Peirce Island in Portsmouth. Individuals with boats may join in the parade by meeting at Buoy 2KR. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard fire boats will lead the procession.