Tall ships to return to Port after long hiatus

Port Washington will host three tall ships this summer, the first time in more than a decade that the harbor will be home to these stately ships.

The tall ships will be in Port from Thursday, July 24, through Sunday, July 27, and while the city won’t host a festival surrounding their visit, it is guaranteed to draw a crowd to Port Washington.

“This is the only chance to get up close and personal with a tall ship in this area this summer,” Port Washington Tourism Executive Director Wayne Chrusciel said Tuesday.

While the ships will be in Sturgeon Bay the following weekend, he noted, many of the events there have already sold out.

Deck tours and sails, including sunset cruises, will be offered while the ships are in Port, he said, and the ships will be available for people to rent for sunset cruises.

“We weren’t able to get the Edelweiss this year,” Chrusciel said, referring to the Milwaukee cruise ship that was in Port for a time last summer, “but I think this will be great. It’s going to be a simple event — we’re going to let the ships be the main attraction — but I think it’s going to bring a lot of people into town.”

The tall ships that will dock in Port are the Liberty Clipper, a modern replica of a Baltimore clipper-style schooner, which were widely used during the 18th and 19th centuries; the When and If, an Alden schooner commissioned by General George Patton in 1939 that he hoped to sail around the world in; and the Appledore IV, a schooner used as a hands-on science vessel for students of all ages.

The Liberty Clipper, a 125-foot vessel built in Rhode Island in 1983 and kept in Boston Harbor, is a replica of some of the fastest sailing vessels of their day. Many of these vessels were used as privateers during the War for Independence and the War of 1812.

The When and If, whose home port is Key West, Fla., is an 83-foot vessel whose name is attributed to Patton’s quote, “When the war is over, and if I live through it, (my wife) Bea and I are going to sail her around the world.” Patton died in a car crash in 1945 before that could happen.

The ship remained in the Patton family until 1972, and she changed hands several times, and was refurbished after being severely damaged in a nor’easter that left her with a hole in the port side that “you could drive a VW bug through.”

The Appledore IV, which is based in Bay City, Mich., is an 85-foot vessel that has been in Port before, as part of the city’s former Maritime Heritage Festival.

It was that festival that resulted in the tall ships’ current visit to Port, Chrusciel said.

In April, he said, he received a call from Sara Dunlap, the former executive director of Port Main Street Inc. who headed the Maritime Heritage Festival for years, asking if Port would be interested in hosting the tall ships.

Dunlap, he said, had been contacted by Tall Ships America asking if the city would allow the ships to dock in Port after they left a festival in Erie, Penn., and before they headed to their next fest in Sturgeon Bay.

“I said, ‘Of course we want to do that,’” Chrusciel said.

“I credit all the people from Maritime Festival all those years ago for creating such a positive impression that they thought of us when they were looking for somewhere for the ships to stay.”

The ships’ visit is being sponsored not just by the Port Washington Tourism Council but also by Port Main Street Inc., something Chrusciel said is a true partnership.

“We’re going to market the heck out of this,” he said.

Chrusciel noted that one of the Tourism Council’s initiatives is to have more on-water experiences for visitors and residents to enjoy.

“This more than fits that,” he said.

And the visit comes a week after Fish Days and before Lions Fest, adding one more event for the city to enjoy.

Tickets for the cruises will be available at visitportwashington.com. While deck tours will be free, Chrusciel said, tickets for day sails will be $70 per person and twilight cruises will be $95.