View from our hotel
Two weeks ago my husband and I went to Savannah, GA to see the Tall Ships Challenge that was held there May 3rd through 7th. I have been promising a blog post and photos about it for much too long, so here it is. I do have a Photo Blog and although it is mainly for my nature photos I might post a few of the ships there as well.
I have loved the ocean, seashells and sailboats since I was a small child. I was fortunate to have an aunt and uncle who lived on beautiful Jekyll Island and I spent many, many happy times there with them playing in the waves and watching the ships. So when my cousin told me last November that he had heard that the “Tall Ships” were coming to Georgia I knew I had to see them in person! In the photo above you can see the view of the ships on the river from our hotel.
We drove to Savannah on Friday night and the beautiful old city was very busy and the first ship we saw was the HMS Bounty beautifully lit. In addition to all of the beautiful ships docked along the river it was also Cinco de Mayo on Saturday, so there were many more visitors there than usual. Actually there was more of a wait in the bars and restaurants than for the ship tours! It was all planned and handled amazingly well by the people on the docks and the ships’ crews.
The HMS Bounty photographed at night.
There were fourteen ships there and all were open for tours but the ships that were giving excursions were docked on the opposite side of the river from where we stayed so since our trip was on Sunday we waited until then to tour those.
My favorite ship was definitely the Peacemaker, from Brunswick, GA. It was clear where it got its name when we stepped aboard. A family lives on it so it was cozy as well as being a huge, well built sailing vessel.
My second favorite was the Lynx, a privateer from Newport Beach, CA., which we toured on Sunday. I could see myself sailing on this one because it was so beautiful in it’s construction. The wood and brass was simply gorgeous.
And my third favorite was the Appledor V which we actually sailed. I even got to help raise the sail when we headed out of the port of Savannah. Named after Appledor Island, it is a beautiful schooner from Bay City, Michigan and Ft. Myers, FL. The only reason it was my third fave is that it was smaller than the ones we toured. For our sail on Sunday it was great, but for a long trip I don’t think I could be that close to eight people.
It was fascinating to walk on the deck of the US Coast Guard ship The Eagle. I believe it was the largest of all ships there with six officers and a crew of 49!
The US Coast Guard’s Eagle
I believe the most popular ship on the docks that weekend was The HMS Bounty. It’s famous for the second making of the movie “Mutiny on the Bounty” and “Pirates of the Caribbean”. There was even a Captain Jack Sparrow look-alike there taking photos with young fans. It was fun to see the ship in person after having seen these films in which it starred and the most surprising thing about it was how small it feels after seeing it on the big screen.
In addition to these there were ships from France, the Etoile and La Belle Poule, an Indonesian Navy ship the Dewaruci, the Picton Castle from the Cook Islands, Pride of Baltimore II from Maryland, The Roseway from St. Croix, and several more.
The French ships Etoile and Picton Castle
I must say that being able to see and tour fourteen tall ships and even sail one of them made that weekend a dream come true for me. I have been sailing several times but never thought I’d see this many beautiful vessels at once. It was very hard for me to put down my camera even for a moment, so I hope you enjoy seeing the rest of these photos as much as I did shooting them.
You can learn more about them at Tall Ships Challenge
The Peacemaker photographed from the Savannah River docks.
The Peacemaker stateroom.
The banner as we were boarding the Lynx.
Interior of The Lynx
A lynx on The Lynx.
The sail from where I sat on The Appledor V.
The bell on The Appledor V.
The Picton Castle from the Cook Islands
On deck of the Dewaruci
The beautiful wheel and compass of the Dewaruci
The HMS Bounty’s bow and figurehead
The U.S. Coast Guard’s Eagle
The Roseway sailing down the Savannah River
