tall ships sailing into Portsmouth for the weekend

Four tall-masted sailing vessels, traditionally known as “tall ships,” will parade into Portsmouth for a weekend of festivities from Friday to Sunday, Aug. 7 to 9, including tours and day sails.

The festival will be held on the State Pier at 550 Market St. in Portsmouth, where four visiting ships—U.S. Coast Guard Eagle from Connecticut, the Kalmar Nyckel from Delaware, the Spirit of Carolina, and the Spirit of Massachusetts—will be open to the public.

“The ocean has a unique sort of hold on human beings,” said Donald Coker, chairman of the Piscataqua Maritime Commission. “The reason for that is the salt content in our blood is exactly the same as in the ocean. There are those who would argue we came from the sea. The tall ships represent that link.”

“Plus they’re really cool,” he added.

The Eagle is a federally owned ship with free entry that attracted thousands of people when it last docked in Portsmouth three years ago. It is a 295-foot, three-masted ship called the Tall Ship for the United States of America. The ship is a training vessel for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and is one of the world’s largest tall ships.

It is expected to nearly double the usual crowd of 10,000 because, Coker said, the Eagle is free and visiting the ships is a relatively inexpensive way to find family entertainment in a poor economy. 

The Eagle will be open for free tours from noon to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Public tours of the three other ships will be $8 per person or $25 per family.

The Spirit of South Carolina was built as an educational tool. Kids over the age of 8 will be allowed to board the 140-foot, two-masted schooner and learn about maritime history, life aboard the ship, the economics of tall ship trade and sail theory.

The Spirit of South Carolina and the Kalmar Nyckel, a 141-foot, three-masted reproduction of a 1625 armed merchant sailing vessel, will also offer three-hour day sails in the mornings and evenings of the festival. The cost is $50 per sail.

To book a cruise, call the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company at 603-431-5500. The Piscataqua Maritime Commission recommends making reservations, as sails sold out last year.

The Spirit of Massachusetts is taking 18 local students onboard for six days of sail training on the Atlantic before the festival. Kids will learn how to hoist the sails and scrub the deck while developing character values. The 125-foot vessel is modeled after an 1889 Gloucester Topsail Schooner.

The festival begins with the Parade of Sail at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 7, led by the Portsmouth and Navy Yard Fire Boats. Ships will meet in the mouth of the harbor and the Newmarket Militia will fire a cannon to welcome them to Portsmouth.

There will be educational exhibits under tents and a Saturday night dockside Captain’s Reception catered by Mojo’s BBQ. Tickets for the reception are $35 per person. Call 603-431-7447 for tickets.

Come 2010, the Tall Ships Festival—an annual tradition in Portsmouth for the last 25 years—will have to find a new name. The American Sail Training Association recently sent a letter informing the Piscataqua Maritime Commission that it has been violating ASTA trademarks by using the term “tall ships,” for which they have a patent. A new name for the festival has not been determined.