Greeting the tall ships

The crew at WoW had a rare opportunity yesterday to join in a parade of sail to greet two tall ships visiting for ISM's War of 1812 Bicentennial Weekend.  Captain Rick Carrion was visiting with Elf and took us down the river to escort  Bounty and Lynx into port at ISM.

Captain Rick and crew in typical activity - sanding varnish

About 5 years ago, WoW had the privilege of building a rig for Elf, an incredibly lovely restoration of a Lawley built racing yacht from 1888, likely the oldest operating racing yacht in the world! Therefore it is always a special treat to see her, still beautiful and painstakingly maintained, whenever she visits.  Sailing out to greet our arriving visitors aboard Elf was a an extra bit of fun.

Aboard Elf, leaving the dock to greet the tall ships

 The air temperature was well into the nineties when we pushed off, and the humidity was in the same range.  Elf, though she is a certainly a spectacular sailing yacht is most decidedly not air conditioned.  Fortunately, we picked up a bit of a breeze as we left the shelter of the marina and turned down river toward the Walt Whitman Bridge.  Aboard Elf, once the mainsail and two jibs were set, we were moving along beautifully, while the wind lasted.

We are sailing!

Bruce taking care of business as ships come into view

  
We rendezvoused with Bounty, Lynx, and their escort, the Philadelphia Fire Department fireboat Independence, fell into line, and headed back up the river to Penn's Landing.

Independence, Lynx, and Bounty, looking S toward Whitman Bridge

Bounty with Lynx in background from the deck of Elf

Bounty safely docked for the weekend alongside ISM

Bounty, Lynx, and Elf will be in port as part of ISM's War of 1812 centennial commemoration all weekend, June 22 to June 24.  Details are at the museum website. 

A veritable forest of masts with Elf and Lynx in foreground, Bounty behind.