Tall ships end festival, set sail with Spirit

Crews head out for final event in Nova Scotia

The Spirit of South Carolina led the way with winds pushing at four full sails. Seven tall ships from around the globe followed its trail into the Atlantic, a red sun setting behind them on a purple horizon. Read More

Tall ships will have little time to lollygag

Vessels docked here will test skills in race up East Coast

For most of the tall ships docked in Charleston Harbor this weekend, the city marks the starting line for the Tall Ship Challenge. In the next two months, most of the ships will be racing from port to port up the East Coast, stopping at similar festivals at Norfolk, Va.; Newport, R.I.; and ... Read More

Festival event really floats families' boats

Four generations of Jones men huddled around the frame of a wooden rowboat clasping carpenter's tools Saturday at the Charleston Maritime Festival. Some held hammers. Others grasped power tools. The youngest of them gripped a sippy cup. The Joneses worked together to construct a take-... Read More

Racers with thirst for adventure catch breeze

18 sailboats leave Charleston for Bermuda

Eighteen sailboats circled the harbor waters Friday behind the starting line, balancing a desire for strategic position with a fear of crossing the line amid an outgoing tide or crashing in the meantime. When the cannons fired from the Spirit of South Carolina's deck, the boats sped past, b... Read More

Scallywag school

Children embrace rough-and-tumble ways of pirates at Maritime Festival

He wore a white linen shirt and a black hat and spoke with a pirate's tongue. "Aaarrrgh!" he shouted to the cluster of "scallywags" seated before him at the Charleston Maritime Festival. They had come for Pirate 101, and hung on his every word. "Aaargh means everything but 'no,' " sai... Read More

Gloria's grand showing captivates crowd

Sailors perched on yardarms inspire chorus of admiration

It appeared slowly, first as an apparition, then as a skeletal frame silently emerging from the hazy horizon. As the vessel crept forward, its hanging sails, three tall masts and widespread yardarms distinguished themselves from the gray sky. But there was something else on the yardarms of ... Read More

Race to Bermuda kicking off

Bermuda here we come! Today is the start of Charleston's marquee race, the Charleston to Bermuda Race, or C2B. Close to 20 boats of various shapes and sizes will cross the starting line just off the dock at the Maritime Center, with the tall ships Spirit of South Carolina and Spirit of Berm... Read More

Ship's Diary: On Board the Pride of Baltimore

The application to become a working guest crew member on the Pride of Baltimore II asked, "Do you have experience on the water (small boats, military, yachting, racing, or training ships)?" Hmmm, no, no, no, no, no, I thought, and then wrote "canoeing." The topsail schooner, which boasts 10,442 square feet of sails, would travel from Miami to Charleston for the Tall Ships Festival. The voyage was scheduled to take four to five days. Captain Jan Miles called after receiving my application to make sure I knew what I was "getting into." "I'm ready to work," I said, and he invited me aboard. Read More

Preview looks at the Tall Ships

A short description of the eight tall ships that will be here for this weekend's Maritime Festival. Read More

Maritime Festival sails into town

They're no Paul Reveres, but the folks at the South Carolina Maritime Foundation want you to know that, "Tall ships are coming!" You've probably seen the posters all over town. In big red letters on bright orange stationary the message is clear: All things boat will be happening this weeken... Read More

Get into the 'Spirit' at the Education Village

If you want to get a true idea of what the Spirit of South Carolina is, visit the Education Village at this weekend's Charleston Maritime Festival. There, under the 40-foot-by-80-foot tent in the middle of Ansonborough Field dubbed the Education Village, you'll see on display the 300-plus e... Read More

Boat-building contest family affair

For some, it would seem like a recipe for disaster. For others, it is a bonding experience. The Charleston Maritime Festival once again will present its family boat-building contest as part of an array of events this weekend. It starts at 9 a.m. Saturday on the lawn of the Charleston Mariti... Read More

On the high seas

Learning the ropes on a tall ship worth the blisters

The application to become a working guest crew member on The Pride of Baltimore II asked, "Do you have experience on the water (small boats, military, yachting, racing, or training ships)?" Hmmm, no, no, no, no, no, I thought, and then wrote, "canoeing." The topsail schooner, which boasts 1... Read More

The docks will be hopping, the ships will be sailing and the pirates will be carrying on

The Maritime Center Complex will be the center of the festival, and the festivities will extend to Ansonborough Field and the Union Pier Passenger Terminal. The Charleston to Bermuda racing fleet will be docked at Patriots Point at the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina, and shuttle buses will r... Read More

As festival nears, excitement builds

With cannon booming, Pride of Baltimore II sails into Charleston

Less than 200 yards from port, the Pride of Baltimore II fired a booming cannon from its deck Tuesday evening, saluting the city of Charleston and the newest member of the tall ship fleet, the Spirit of South Carolina. "Fire in the hole," shouted S.C. Maritime Foundation Director Brad Van L... Read More