Tacoma, WA

A few weeks ago my family and I went to the annual Tall Ships Festival in Tacoma. We had such a wonderful time there between eating roasted corn on the cob to walking on ships from the past. My oldest son had the time of his life playing pirate type games, and getting booty as a prize. From vendors to shows, it was non stop fun for our whole family.

The Ocean Institute celebrated it’s 24th year hosting the Toshiba Tall Ships Festival, the largest annual gathering of tall ships on the West Coast. The festival featured a spectacular array of family-fun activities including live music, art & craft shows, exciting living-history demonstrations and a variety of tasty food. We enjoyed the maritime displays and presentations, Polynesian dancers, sea-chantey concerts, an interactive pirate encampment and dramatic sunset cannon battles. Additionally, we explored the historic tall ships and listened to the crew share tales of adventure and life at sea. Last but not least, we got to explore the Ocean Institute and our local ocean life, participate in live parrot shows, play pirate games and join in on special interactive presentations.

One of the ships that my family and I really enjoyed was the CGC Eagle. This ship was built in 1936, and is a total of 295 feet in length. It is currently under the sail of Captain Chris Sinnett, and hails from the homeport of New London, Connecticut. The Eagle is used as a seagoing classroom for future Coast Guard officers and is the only active duty commissioned sailing vessel in the U.S. military. It has a total of 22,245 sq. ft. of sail and more than 20 miles of rigging. During its major ship maneuvers, cadets must coordinate the movements of more than 200 lines. Cadets are also required to learn the name and functions of each of those 200 lines.

Another of our favorites at the festival was the Nina. The Nina was built in 1991, and is a total of 115 feet long. It is currently captained by Morgan Sanger and Joe Hopkins, and its home port is Tortola, British Virgin Islands. This ship is an almost perfect example of the type of sailing ships that were produced for more than 125 years. The Nina is a historically correct replica of the 15th century ship sailed by the famous Christopher Columbus in the year 1492. When we as a family boarded the ship, it was like stepping back in time.

For more information on next years festival go to http://www.tallshipsfestival.com/info.html. I know that you will find it to be as much fun as my family and I did.