By Anthony DeAngelis
Correspondent

PORTSMOUTH – If you’ve ever wanted to tour some of the finest ships in the nation without traveling across the country, then make your way to Portsmouth this weekend for the Tall Ships Festival at the Market Street Terminal.

The festival, hosted by the Piscataqua Maritime Commission, kicks off Friday and runs until Sunday.

Four ships will be open to the public, including the U.S. Coast Guard Eagle, the Kalmar Nyckel, the Spirit of Carolina and the Spirit of Massachusetts.

“There is just something magical about sailing ships,” said Donald Coker, chairman of the Piscataqua Maritime Commission. “It’s something you have to experience to describe. It is just surreal.”

The weekend begins with the four ships, as well as the Portsmouth gundalow, in a boat parade, which will be led by the Eagle at 8 a.m. Friday.

The ships, along with public boats, will meet at Buoy 2KR in the mouth of the harbor to begin the parade, with the Newmarket Militia firing a cannon salute to welcome the ships.

Following the parade, all ships will be open to the public to board and tour from Friday until Sunday. Guests will be guided throughout the ships as they learn about maritime history, life aboard a ship and the economics of ship trade.

“It will be a nice educational activity for people,” Coker said. “If you have any interest in maritime history this is pretty amazing.”

Headlining the group is the Eagle, also known as “America’s Tall Ship,” as it stands at 295 feet tall and is considered one of the world’s largest tall ships. The three-masted, 300-foot ship is the U.S. Coast Guard Academy training vessel and a U.S. ambassador around the world.

The ship visited Portsmouth nearly three years ago and helped draw a crowd of more than 15,000 to the Tall Ships Festival that year.

This weekend, it will once again grace the harbor, and it will be free to board and tour throughout the weekend. It will be open from noon to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The Spirit of South Carolina also will be docked and available for public tours. The 140-foot, two-masted schooner was modeled after an 1870s pilot schooner out of Charleston and is the official tall ship of the State of South Carolina.

Three-hour sails on the vessel also will be offered in the morning and evenings on Saturday and Sunday, with a cost of $50 per sail.

Deck tours run from noon to 4:40 p.m. on Friday, 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The 141-foot Kalmar Nyckel, a reproduction of a 1625 armed merchant sailing vessel and official tall ship of Delaware, also will be open for tours.
The ship offers participants the chance to take part in three-hour sails in the morning and evenings on Saturday and Sunday. It will be open for tours from noon to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, from noon to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The final boat available for tour is the Spirit of Massachusetts, a replica of a 125-foot Gloucester topsail fishing schooner. The vessel, which is modeled after the 1889 tall ship Fredonia, is fresh off a six-day sail on the Atlantic with 18 local student sail-trainees.

It will be open for above-deck tours from noon to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, noon to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.
“This is a good opportunity for a family to spend time together very inexpensively,” Coker said. “It’s a great way to spend the day.”

The Piscataqua Maritime Commission recommends people make reservations to set sail as soon as possible, as last year’s sails sold out in less than two days.

If You Go:
What: Tall Ships Tours.
When: Friday, Aug. 7, through Sunday, Aug. 9. Hours are Friday from noon to 4:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Three-hour day sails run in morning and evenings on Saturday and Sunday and take place from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Where: 550 Market St., Portsmouth, N.H.
How: Passes to tour the ships are available the day of the event and are $8 per person or $25 per family. Three-hour day sails are $50 per person. For more information, call 603-431-7447.