And the Denis Sullivan

I wasn't sure if I would catch this ship or not.  It was getting dark and she was moving pretty slow.  I was hungry, so I grabbed some dinner after the Algoma Harvester.  I decided to eat dinner along the river and I'm glad I did.

 As I got back to the park, I noticed she was making her way up the River.  She was moving pretty slowly at this point.

 She is a replica of a three masted schooner and was designed to resemble the cargo schooners that used to sail on the Great Lakes.

 Above the waterline, she could easily pass for one of those schooners.  She has a deeper hull and heavier keel than the old schooners.  This was so she could pass modern Coast Guard specifications.

 She is based out of Milwaukee and serves as the flagship of Wisconsin and the United Nations Environment programme.

 She is 137 feet long and 24 feet wide.

 She is a pretty nice looking ship.

 A beam shot.

And she continues to Lake Huron.

And the Brig Niagara

Since I caught the Santa Maria, I knew that I would catch the Niagara as she was following fairly closely behind.

 The Niagara has been on this page in the past.

 She is a replica/restoration of the original Niagara that fought in the Battle of Lake Erie and served as Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship.

 She is actually a snow brig which means that she is a two masted ship with square sails.  The word snow comes the old Dutch word "snauw" which means "beak".  They typically have a long nose to support the mizzen.

 She is a pretty nice looking ship.

 I love her profile.

 She continues out into Lake Huron.

If you look closely, you can see one of the other tall ships.

The Nao Santa Maria Heading Up to Bay City

Last weekend was the tall ships festival in Bay City.  I was hoping that I would catch some of them heading up that way.  As I was checking Marine Traffic on Tuesday, I saw that I would have a chance to catch at least two of them as the last group of ships leaving Cleveland was doing about 4 knots up the St Clair River.

 The leader of that group of ships was the Nao Santa Maria which is a replica of the ship that Christopher Columbus used in his expedition to the Americas.

 On August 3rd of 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail on the Santa Maria.  He led a little fleet composed of his ship and the Pinta and Nina.  They were trying to find a western route to Asia.  At the time, the known routes were either land routes through the Middle East or a seat route that sailed around Africa.  Christopher Columbus figured that there would be a way west to Asia.  He didn't count on a new continent being in the way.
If he had access to some of the research done by the Ancient Greeks, he would have realized that the Earth was much bigger and that there might be a continent in the way.  But we wont hold that against him.

 On October 12, 1492, he landed on what is now an island of the Bahamas.  He would later visit Cuba and Hispaniola.  Later he would make three voyages to the Americas.  Eventually, it was figured out that a new continent was found and we know the rest.

 This particular Nao Santa Maria is an almost exact replica of Columbus' ship and is based on the information they could find.  She is 28 meters long by 8 meters wide.  That is about a 10th of the length of the Paul R. Tregurtha.

I was not expecting to see this ship but I knew by seeing it that I would see the other two.

No Tall Planes...Just Tall Ships

So I decided to head up to Bay City for the Tall Ships Festival.  As much as I don't like crowds, I couldn't stay away.  The ships were compelling me to visit them.

 I decided to get the pass that lets me walk around the park.  I didn't get there early enough to pay for the passport but from what I heard, I would have spent most of my time waiting in lines, so I didn't think it was worth it.
The first ship that I saw was the Sailing Vessel Denis Sullivan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  She was built in 2000 by a group of volunteers and professional shipwrights.  She is an educational sailing vessel and is equipped with a laboratory.  She is a replica of a three masted schooner that was prevalent on the Great Lakes in the 19th century.

 The Andalucia.  I don't think I need to go into more detail on her.

 The Star Spangled Banner flying off the Niagara.

 Looking up the rigging of the Andalucia.  I guess one nice aspect of going to the park is that I get to see the ships up close.  I kind of wish I could have taken a tour of this one but this was one of the ships that had the longest lines.

 I don't think I could get tired of the Viking ship.

 Looking under the bowspirit of the Pride of Baltimore II.

 The stern of the galleon.  I will have to admit, this looks like a very well put together boat.

 The Spanish Flag of the time of the Galleon.

 Another shot of her stern.

 One more.

 After a stop at the park, I decided to take a ride on of the Bay City Boat Lines boats.  This was the Islander which would be my ride for approximately a half hour.   I figured this gave the best opportunity to see all the ships.  I also figured it would probably give me the best angles.

 A restored Criss Craft boat.

 Looking out the windows of the Islander.

 The Vets Bridge opening for us.

 The Denis Sullivan again.  I'll have to admit this is a pretty nice looking ship and I would love to see it under full sail.

 Another view of the Galleon.

 The flag.

 The Mist of Avalon began her life as the motor vessel Liverpool Bay in 1967.  She was built in Nova Scotia, Canada.  She was used as a fishing vessel until 1987 when she was left abandoned at Halifax pier.  In 1992, work was started to covert her into a Grand Banks schooner.  Her engines were replaced and rigging was added.  In 1997, she started her new life as the Mist of Avalon.    Again, another pretty boat.

 The When & If is a two masted schooner that was commissioned by General George S. Patton in 1939.  He wanted to sail around the world in it.  Unfortunately, World War II intervened and he died in 1945 before he had a chance to use it.  It remained in his family until 1972 when it was given to a training school.  In 1990, she ran aground and was repaired in 1994.  Again, another nice looking vessel.

 The Pride of Baltimore II.  I don't need to go into her story here.

 The Star Spangled Banner flying from the Pride of Baltimore.

 The Appledore coming in to dock.

 The stern of the Draken Harald Harfarge.

 The Pride of Baltimore II.  She's a very sleek looking ship.

 A tiny Viking boat.

 The woodwork on the Viking longship is amazing.

 It was pretty windy.

 A view of that longship.

 Her bow.

 The Madeline that travels out of Traverse City, MI.  She is a recreation of a two masted schooner that used to travel the lakes.

 The Pathfinder.

 Another view of the galleon.

 Probably my favorite view of the galleon.

 The front of the longship.

 It's pretty amazing to see this many tall ships in one place.

 The Niagara.

 After getting off the boat, I decided to head to the other side of the river.  I wanted some closeups of the Viking ship.  This is the Playfair.

 Her flags.

 A close up of the dragon at the front of the Viking ship.

 This looks pretty bad assed.  Somehow, I could imagine the Vikings blowing fire or something through its mouth to scare their opponents.

 Another angle.

 The flag.

 The Vikings believed that ravens were the symbol of Odin.  Odin was the head of their gods.

 A stilt walker.  He was having a pretty difficult day because it was so windy.

 Decoration at the stern of the longship.

 Steerage for the longship. 

 Some shields.

 If you look closely, you can see some pretty intricate woodwork.

 The Pride of Baltimore II.

And almost back where we started.

Between tomorrow and Wednesday, these ships will start to leave Bay City.  They head off to Chicago next and their festival starts on July 27 and lasts through the 31st.  After that, they head up to Green Bay and then Duluth.  They will pass through the Detroit area at the beginning of September.  I am hoping to catch them when they do.