By Ariane Paul

If you stayed in the Bay Area over Labor Day weekend, you may have been among the throngs of people along the Embarcadero watching the tall ship parade and checking out the visiting ships on display. There were swarms of people and children enjoying the summer sun and the beauty of the vessels. Sail San Francisco, headed up by Alison Healy, organized the festivities surrounding the tall ships’ visit as they stopped here on their way down the coast in the Tall Ship Challenge 2002 race. Local historical ships such as Alma and the Potomac joined them in a grand parade on August 28th. The weather was quite a challenge as gusts up to 40 knots or so started early that morning. One of the newer ships, the 122’ schooner Lynx launched in 2001, cracked her bow sprit as she was setting her sails under the Golden Gate Bridge preparing for the parade. I was crew on a local ketch, Stroma of Mey, and had buckets of water splashing in my unprotected eyes on the way to the start (time to buy sailing goggles). But once we fell in to parade position, and were running with the wind behind us, it was much more pleasant and we could take in the sights.

Alison, and her cheery group of international interns, had also organized the 1999 Gold Rush Sail and they are already working on the Festival of Tall Ships for 2005. In 1999, I was lucky enough to watch the July 4th fireworks from the deck of the 249’ Colombian barque Gloria, launched in Spain in 1968. Guayas, a 257’ barque from Ecuador, was here in ‘99 and returned to start this year’s festivities in late July. Sail San Francisco had local volunteers host Guayas cadets for dinner in our homes while they were here. The two that came to my place were quite impressive. Both were
midshipmen, spoke English fluently, and had wonderful manners. One was the son of an Admiral and also spoke Italian.

Sail San Francisco is also planning a Maritime Festival in 2003. The group’s ongoing mission is to promote international understanding and goodwill through sail education and sail training. Getting involved as a volunteer adds a lot of unforgettable experiences and richness to these events for me, and I meet colorful people, both from afar and locally based. There were two adorable pug-nosed twins who were crew on the 185’ barque Europa that I’ll never forget. I talked to them a while at a crew party and they were as animated as you can get.

If you somehow missed the parade and main event, don’t fret. The Columbus replica Nina, a 93’ Caravela Redonda based in the British Virgin Islands, is still here. She was built in Brazil using only adzes, axes, hand saws, and chisels and launched in 1991. Nina was used in the 1992 Ridley Scott film “1492” starring Gerard Depardieu. You can visit Nina in Petaluma September 27th through October 8th, and then she’ll be in Redwood City October 10th through the 20th, before sailing off to Oxnard. Visit www.thenina.com for more information.

Also coming up is the arrival of the Mexican Naval Training Ship Cuauhtemoc, a 270’ barque launched in Spain in 1982. Cuauhtemoc will be here with festivities surrounding her visit October 31st to November 4th, and will be open to the public from Noon until 5:00 pm Friday through Sunday.