Smooth sailing: Thousands turn out despite temperatures in the 90s

Thousands braved the heat Sunday afternoon to head for the water and the Charleston Harbor Fest.

"We saw thousands of people down here," said Meaghan Van Liew, deputy director of the S.C. Maritime Foundation, which organized the festival at the Maritime Center and passenger terminal. "Although the heat was pretty intense, it did not seem to deter many people."

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Charleston Harbor Fest 2009 Sunday

The final day of Harbor Fest 2009.

The National Weather Service recorded a high of 85 degrees at Waterfront Park in downtown Charleston on Sunday afternoon, but most of the festival's venues felt closer to the 94 degrees recorded at the airport. The heat index pushed the perceived temperatures even higher. Visitors downed water and mopped their brows as they checked the fleet of tall ships and other attractions.

There's every indication that attendance exceeded the previous high, an estimated 80,000 people in 2007 — the last time the tall ships came to Charleston, Van Liew said.

Sunday's attractions included not only the ships but an air show, a parachute dive, sword-fighting pirates and cannon fire.

Adam and Amy Clark of James Island made a weekend of it with their five children, ranging in age from 2 to 11. They stood with eyes to the sky watching the U.S. Special Operations Command Parachute Team tumble and spin from an airplane, trailing plumes of pink smoke, to land within a few feet of each other at Ansonborough Field.

"It was cool," 8-year-old Caleb Clark said of the spectacle.

Today is the last and best chance to see the ships in the water. Fifteen of the tall ships will gather at the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge at 4 p.m. before sailing out to sea toward Boston, their next stop. They will sail past the Maritime Center, Waterfront Park and Sullivan's Island on their way out of the harbor.

"It's the one moment visually where all the ships are on the water under sail as a fleet," Van Liew said. "It's really an exciting time and an incredible sight."

Reach Dave Munday at dmunday@postandcourier.com or 937-5553.