Tall Ships in Tacoma

[Scott Donley]

If you like crowds and a good time and in the Seattle Tacoma area, this makes for a great day.
Info http://www.tallshipstacoma.com/site_ships

[Joe Pelonio]

I'll second that. Seafair season is a lot of fun around here.

[Pat Germain]

Where's the Black Pearl? ;)

The crowds reference reminds of a situation back in 2000 when a bunch of tall ships were scheduled to visit Hampton Roads, Virginia which is where I lived at the time. The local cities got really excited about it. They scheduled festivals. They brought in vendors. They asked the local media to stress visitors should not drive to the waterfront areas; there would just be too much congestion. They were to park at satellite lots and ride busses to the waterfront.

Well, the tall ships sailed in and it was a beautiful sight. I didn't go to the waterfront because I didn't want to deal with all the crowds and congestion. One of my coworkers somehow didn't hear any news reports about it. He just drove to the waterfront, parked and enjoyed leisurely strolls among the tall ships. That seemed strange.

As it turned out, all the warnings about crowds and demands for people to park at satellite lots scared almost everyone off. As they say, "People stayed home in droves!". The whole thing was a bust. Only a few people strolled among the tall shops. The festivals were pretty much desolate. The Portsmouth side of the water was literally deserted; no visitors at all. Vendors were steamed and threatened legal action. After all, they paid big bucks for a vendor's license with the promise of big, BIG crowds.

I know I'm macabre, but I found the whole situation a bit funny. But I do like tall ships and kicked myself for letting the media scare me away. I should have known better! My son lives in Seattle. I should go visit him...

[Peter Lyon]

For what it's worth, the Black Pearl is there, however, it sailed under its own name, "The Lady Washington".

I had the good fortune of watching the parade of ships from the helm of a 42' Grand Banks yacht.