Tall Ships

Tall Ships Down, by Daniel S. Parrott. McGraw Hill. 224 pages. $24.95. There is something endlessly fascinating about shipwrecks, as this book so admirably demonstrates. To think that a man-made object as large as a ship, sailed by a trained crew, fitted out with the latest technology, can suddenly come to woe and vanish beneath the waves almost defies explanation. Well, maybe. The ocean bottom is littered with wrecks, some of which came to rest there as a result of sudden freakish weather conditions, roaring storms or rogue waves.

Wow, what a week it was in Havre de Grace! The city was pillaged by the British for the second time in 200 years. Decoys, ducks and all things fowl from the water made their 32nd annual three-day visit. And the voters not only chose all incumbents (we know Fred Cullum technically wasn't one, but he's been around so much he qualifies) for mayor and city council, but also told the city government to go ahead and spend $1.29 million to buy a waterfront parcel. The election results tell us that the majority of those who voted in Havre de Grace are satisfied with the way things are, including the more than 2 to 1 vote to affirm the city council's decision to buy the land next to the Concord Point Lighthouse.

Gusty northerly winds are meeting the tall ships as they move up the Chesapeake Bay today, and they are also making travels rougher for smaller boats joining the flotilla to the Inner Harbor. A small craft advisory is in effect for the Chesapeake Bay through Thursday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. Gusts of up to 25 knots -- about 29 mph -- are expected Wednesday afternoon. Steady winds of 15 knots are in the forecast. Waves are about 1 foot high, but can be expected to be higher when winds blow against the tidal direction.

William B. "Buck" Frisch, a retired McCormick & Co. executive who played a pivotal role in bringing the tall ships to Baltimore during the nation's bicentennial in 1976, died March 30 of multiple melanoma at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. He was 79. The son of a McCormick executive and a homemaker, William Buckley Frisch was born in Baltimore and raised in Pinehurst. He was a 1951 graduate of Towson High School and earned a bachelor's degree in 1955 from Dartmouth College.

September 1964: Inner Harbor master plan unveiled. April 1973: Dedication of the public wharf on the west shore, where visiting ships dock. April 1974: Construction begins on the Inner Harbor promenade. September 1974: Baltimore City Fair held on the West Shore at what is now Rash Field. June 1976: Maryland Science Center opens. July 1976: Seven tall ships and six military vessels from around the world sail into Baltimore's Inner Harbor to celebrate the nation's bicentennial, revealing the potential of the Inner Harbor as a tourist destination.

The tall ships moored around the Baltimore harbor for the Star-Spangled Sailabration will depart just ahead of a brief heat wave setting in Wednesday, meaning one last day of pleasant weather to watch the ships sail away on Tuesday. The tall ships are scheduled to raise their sails and breeze southward in the "Parade of Sail" between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tuesday. Navy warships will depart before that, from, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Winds will be coming from the south-southeast, potentially hampering the tall ships from departing under sail.

The sales pitch to 46 uniformed men was simple: Welcome to Baltimore. Next time, bring a tall ship. City and state officials and the nautical community have begun a marketing drive aimed at filling the Inner Harbor with majestic sailing vessels and gray-hulled warships for the War of 1812 commemoration finale, Sept. 6-14, 2014. On Wednesday, they pitched military attaches from 40 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Turkey and Sri Lanka. Navies begin planning their sea exercises and courtesy calls about a year in advance, and there's a lot of jockeying among East Coast seaports to secure the biggest and best ships for summer events.

The reproduction tall ship Pride of Baltimore II returned Friday to Baltimore's Inner Harbor after sailing the Chesapeake Bay, the East Coast and the Great Lakes for five months. The ship, which was built to look like a "1812-era topsail schooner privateer," will sail two more times — from 2 to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday — before ending its 2011season. Tickets are $45 for adults and $30 for children 12 and under. Free dockside tours of the deck will also be given between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. On Sunday, park rangers from Fort McHenry will be present on the ship and dressed in period uniforms to learn about the ship's operations from the crew.

Harford County Restaurant Week continues through Sunday, and Maryland Wine Week continues through June 18. And here come the tall ships, and hundreds of thousands of tourists. Start picking. The summer edition of Baltimore Restaurant Week returns on July 27, and the event's website is scheduled to go live on Monday . About 65 restaurants have signed up to participate so far, but the number is sure to grow. Dur­ing the 10-day event, partic­ipating restaurants will offer three-course fixed-price dinner menus for either $20.12 or $30.12 (but not both)

One of the unique joys of the 1976 bicentennial year was the visit of the tall ships to Baltimore. Over the summer, 11 of those graceful vessels sailed up the Chesapeake to moor at the Inner Harbor basin. Tens of thousands of Baltimoreans came to view them. Even at 4 a.m., night owls could be seen admiring those ocean-goers.Happily for those who missed the 1976 event, those moments and memories will soon be repeated. From May 29 to Sept. 9, close to 30 sailing ships from Spain, Brazil, the Netherlands, Uruguay, Portugal, Italy, Germany and England are scheduled to visit the Inner Harbor as part of Baltimore's Operation Sail '92. They range from tall ships to frigates and schooners.

The sales pitch to 46 uniformed men was simple: Welcome to Baltimore. Next time, bring a tall ship. City and state officials and the nautical community have begun a marketing drive aimed at filling the Inner Harbor with majestic sailing vessels and gray-hulled warships for the War of 1812 commemoration finale, Sept. 6-14, 2014. On Wednesday, they pitched military attaches from 40 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Turkey and Sri Lanka. Navies begin planning their sea exercises and courtesy calls about a year in advance, and there's a lot of jockeying among East Coast seaports to secure the biggest and best ships for summer events.

The Navy's Blue Angels precision flying team announced Tuesday that it will perform in the skies over Baltimore for the finale of the War of 1812 commemoration in the fall of 2014. Star-Spangled Spectacular will be held Sept. 6-15, 2014, and also will include the return of tall ships, Navy gray hulls, and land-based activities. The Star-Spangled Sailabration, which featured the Blue Angels, kicked off Maryland's festivities last June. Open fields and parking lots and the grounds at Fort McHenry were filled with thousands of spectators who craned their necks to watch a practice session and two performances.

I attended all five days of the Star-Spangled Sailabration and was amazed to see so many happy faces in spite of the crowds and long waits to board ships ("The second defense of Baltimore," June 20. Since I live at the Inner Harbor, I was anticipating problems and perhaps some trouble, but nothing except good weather and good spirits materialized. Bravo! With a festival the size of Sailabration, along with its vast number of "moving parts," the organizers, volunteers and city residents should be proud it went so seamlessly.

My heart burst with pride in Baltimore over the week of celebration commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812. It has been said that while the American Revolution achieved our independence, the War of 1812 secured our liberties. The celebration of these liberties could not have been more spectacularly proclaimed than through this past week's living history experience of all that is great about our country, from the grand parade of tall ships, to the awe-inspiring precision of the Blue Angels and more.

A delicate maritime ballet in two acts is playing out Wednesday afternoon as tugboats muscle a cargo ship carrying four supersized cranes to the port of Baltimore. The ship has cleared the Bay and Key bridges and is approaching Seagirt Marine Terminal. The bridges were closed to traffic while the ship approached and passed underneath with its giant cargo. The space between the top of the cranes and the bottom of the Bay Bridge was about 10 feet, according to Coast Guard Capt.

ON THE SITE... Michael Phelps to swim seven events at Olympic qualifying trials : Previewing what he might swim in his final Olympics in London, Michael Phelps has entered seven races in next week's qualifying trials -- including the exciting but exhausting 400-meter individual medley. North Baltimore fire damages building roof : Baltimore City firefighters battled a roof fire that broke out Tuesday morning in a multi-story building at the intersection of West 22nd St. and Maryland Avenue, in the Old Goucher neighborhood west of Charles Street.  Annapolis man, 34, charged with rape of girl, 13 :  Alexander Lara, who is being held on $2 million bail, is also charged with assault in the incident that occurred Saturday at his home on Merle Court, near Forest Drive, police said.

THE HOOPLA surrounding America's celebration of its bicentennial in 1976 included an imposing array of tall ships, which conjured up images of harbors cluttered with wooden-hulled boats, masts and sails in the two centuries since the country was founded. Unlike the armada of tall ships which sailed up the East Coast to nestle in Baltimore Harbor this past week, the event of '76 had the ships setting sail from Bermuda to New York, with the majority of them then heading south to Baltimore.

WASHINGTON -- Through more than seven decades of Soviet oppression, freedom-loving Ukrainians never lost their will to achieve an independent Motherland. They finally achieved that goal in 1991 -- months after the fall of the Berlin Wall -- when Russian troops departed for points east. Now, nine years later, a Ukrainian tall ship appropriately named Bat'kivschchyna -- The Motherland, in English -- is about to leave its berth in the upper reaches of the Dneipper River. As crowds lining the Dniepper's banks cheer it on, the Bat'kivschchyna will emerge into the Black Sea, sail through the Bosporus, negotiate the myriad islands of the Aegean Sea, race through the Mediterranean and slip through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Atlantic.

"And all I ask for is a tall ship and a star to sail her by. " Those words are from John Masefield's "Sea-Fever," a poem that evokes strong feelings of nostalgia for the maritime life of the past and all the beauty and adventure that came with it. Baltimore had its own bout of sea fever this past week, and it was just what the doctor ordered. It will be months before Sailabration organizers have an official tally of exactly how many people came to Baltimore to see the 17 tall-masted ships and 28 military vessels that arrived last Wednesday to launch Maryland's War of 1812 bicentennial celebration, but it's safe to assume tourists numbered in the hundreds of thousands (if not 1 million or more)

I have lived in Baltimore for over 40 years and I have never been so proud nor so impressed with the city as I have been this past weekend. The Sailabration was beautifully orchestrated, and the organizers deserve much credit for a flawless event. The tall ships and all the visiting ships were magnificent with eager visitors. The Blue Angels were simply thrilling. The harbor was overflowing with happy families. Pierce's Park, our newest park along the water near Pier V, was jammed with joyful children, happy parents and an extraordinary mix of people so impressed with this city.