Sailing Ships

The second annual Fells Point Maritime Festival started with a bang yesterday -- literally.The sound of cannons shook Fells Point as the Lady Maryland and nine other ships fired their guns in salute during a Parade of Sail from Fort McHenry to the Inner Harbor to mark the start of this weekend's festival.One crew, from the Hermaphrodite Brig the Black Pearl, yelled "Boom!" as they passed by to make up for their lack of cannons.All the ships are replicas of historic vessels, most having significance to Baltimore or Maryland.

Q: We're thinking of turning a small bedroom adjacent to the master bedroom into a combination bath and exercise room. Besides a whirlpool tub for two, the thing I really want is a fireplace. My husband says forget it, it's not practical. What do you think?A: I think you'd adore the fireplace. The double whirlpool is the thing I'd reconsider. Interior designers all over the country these days are reporting chronic disuse of giant-size whirlpools. The reason: In our time-pressed and environmentally distressed world of the '90s, those big tubs take too long to fill, use too much water and require too much synchronization from couples who're too busy to schedule a tandem soak.

With this year's early Memorial Day, the 1992 summer season gains an extra week. Not only is the calendar brimming with events but the next three-to-four months will show Maryland and metropolitan Baltimore at their best.The trick is to get out of the house and do something different. Pick a spot on the map and visit it. Go to a firemen's carnival or strawberry festival in Carroll County. Do the polka at Blob's Park in Jessup. Enroll in a sailing course in Annapolis. Go antiquing in Columbia Sunday morning.

Forrest Lee Griffith Jr., a retired manufacturing executive and Amtrak official, died of respiratory failure Monday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Timonium resident was 87. A Baltimore native, he was a 1937 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and earned a joint bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and business administration from Cornell University in 1940. He enlisted in the Navy in World War II and was assigned to the Bureau of Aeronautics, where he held various engineering assignments including director of flight test electronics in Washington.

Richard Roberts Harwood Jr., a former business executive who later owned and operated a Charles Street art gallery, died of cancer Saturday at his North Baltimore home. He was 87. Known as "Boots," Mr. Harwood filled his Purnell Galleries with etchings of old Baltimore, Civil War-era lithographs and sporting prints, as well as traditional oil paintings and ceramics. In 1975, he and his wife bought the art gallery, then one of Baltimore's oldest fine art dealers. He worked there daily until 1997 and owned the business at his death.

SAN DIEGO -- Everyone deserves his 15 minutes of fame, right?And 15 minutes was just about the length of time in Race 4 of the America's Cup finals yesterday that the impossible scenario seemed possible.Young America, sailed by the U.S. crew from Stars & Stripes, won the start by seven seconds, took what it thought was the favored right side of the course and sailed out to its first lead in a race since the beginning of hostilities last Saturday.From this point (went the impossible possibility)

SHOWING OFF DOWNTOWN:Sample the diversity of downtown Baltimore, all Around the Inner Harbor, give or take a few blocks. Activities start today and continue into next week. A combination of events sponsored by the Downtown Partnership and the city's Office of Promotion constitutes what's being ballyhooed as "Baltimore by The Bay." Some of today's activities include:The downtown-wide Sidewalk Sale that began yesterday will continue all day. From noon to 2 p.m., the Downtown Lunchtime Show will have greeters, entertainment and refreshments at various office buildings.

A TALL, HANDSOME ITALIAN: Mark down Monday, 1:15 p.m. That's when the Amerigo Vespucci, considered by many to be one of the world's most elegant tall ships -- it's undeniably one of the largest -- docks in the Inner Harbor for a weeklong visit.Starting on Tuesday, you can stroll the decks of this full-rigged tall ship and mingle with its crew. The black, brass-trimmed Amerigo Vespucci, which last visited Baltimore in July 1986 to huge crowds, promises to draw big-time again this visit.The ships will be open for public tours starting Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Inner Harbor's West Wall.

Five Western Maryland College professors are in Europe this year furthering their education and sharing their knowledge with others.The faculty members received financial help for their work from WMC's Faculty Development Grants Program, which selects the winning projects among those competing for the awards."

ON AND OFF THE AIR:* The television campaign trail stretches on, as apparent nominee Bill Clinton appears tonight for an hour with host Bill Moyers on "Listening to America," at 10 o'clock on Maryland Public Television."