A fleet of tall ships is sailing to Galveston Island, Texas which will host Tall Ships Galveston from April 5 – 8th to kick off the Tall Ships Challenge Gulf Coast 2018 tall ship race. Included in the fleet will be:
- Galveston’s Elissa, an 1877 square-rigged three-masted iron barque,
- Oliver Hazard Perry, a three-masted steel ship, commissioned in 2015, the largest civilian Sailing School Vessel in the United States and the first ocean-going full-rigged ship to be built in the U.S. in over 100 years,
- Oosterschelde, a three-masted topsail schooner built in 1918, from the Netherlands,
- Picton Castle, three-masted steel barque, built in 1928, registered in the Cook Islands, on its way toward its seventh circumnavigation,
- Lynx, replica Baltimore clipper privateer, delivered in 2001,
- When and If, a classic Alden schooner built in 1939 for General George S. Patton.
The Tall Ships Galveston festival will begin with a Parade of Sail down Seawall Boulevard on Thursday afternoon, April 5th. The festival is being produced by Galveston Historical Foundation, in partnership with Tall Ships America as a family-friendly event which will showcase Galveston’s rich maritime history through unique programming and the visiting tall ships. Tickets, ship information, and special event details are available here.
Following the festival on Galveston Island, the fleet will race off to Pensacola, Fl for the Tall Ships Pensacola festival from April 12-15th. They will then sail for New Orleans for Tall Ships New Orleans, for New Orleans’ Tricentennial Anniversary Celebration from April 19 – 22, 2018. The final stop on the race will be Philadelphia for the Sail Philadelphia festival from May 24-28th.
I remember the tall ship turn out for the Bicentennial back in 1976. It was quite the happening. If you have the chance, I suggest you go and see these magnificent ships.