JULY 2008

Festival Of Sail Sets Sail

Firehouse & Piers

Mark July 23 on your calendars as the start of this year’s Festival of Sail, the celebration of Tall Ships® and San Francisco’s maritime heritage. At noon on that day, the Tall Ships® sail under the Golden Gate Bridge in the Parade of Sail to kick off five days of festivities.

Join us from noon until 2 p.m. and enjoy Fort Mason Center (FMC)’s spectacular and sweeping views from the Golden Gate to the Bay Bridge. In addition to the public viewing, “Friends of the Fort” members can enjoy an exclusive indoor/outdoor VIP Parade of Sail viewing and luncheon at the Bayview Café in the Festival Pavilion. Also that day, FMC’s Firehouse serves as a visitor center where tickets, information, and Festival of Sail-related items are available.

The Festival of Sail is a family event enlivening the San Francisco waterfront from Pier 40 at AT&T Park to the Hyde Street Pier. Approximately 15 tall ships and other vessels are moored along this route. In addition, three unique villages — the Marine Educational Village, the International Village, and the Green Village — also line the waterfront. Each village includes five to seven ships and other vessels offering daily boarding and ship tours. Music, booths, educational displays, and family activities are available at each village. Bay cruises aboard some of the vessels also take place.

Some of the ships taking part in Festival of Sail this year are the US Coast Guard Cutter Eagle, a seagoing classroom; the HMS Bounty, built for the 1960 film; the 1891 scow schooner, the Alma; the square topsail schooner, Lynx; and the official tall ship of California, the aptly-named Californian. Also participating are the HMS Oriole, the oldest commissioned ship in the Canadian navy, and the Nina, the historically correct replica of the 15th Century Caravel.

Vessels are open to the public for touring beginning Thursday July 24 at 10:00 a.m. During the Festival visitors can park in FMC’s parking lot — a short walk to the Festival’s Marine Educational Village at Hyde Street Pier.

For a complete schedule and more information on the Festival of Sail — including volunteer opportunities — visit www.festivalofsail.org. For information on “Friends of the Fort” membership, contact marie@fortmason.org.

— Jovanne Reilly

Images:
Lynx square topsail schooner, Courtesy: Lyons Imaging
US Coast Guard Cutter Eagle, USCG, Photo: Larry Kells