Tall Ship Celebration – Bay City, Michigan

Today was the first day of the 2010 Tall Ship Celebration in Bay City, Michigan.  Almost a dozen tall sailing ships from around the world came to Bay City today, for a three day festival (for more information on this festival, go to http://tallshipcelebration.com/ ).  We spent over three hours this afternoon, with a large crowd of people, watching the ships come up the Saginaw River into Bay City.  I would like to share few highlights with you here today.

An eager crowd is gathering on a very hot, muggy day.  You can see just how hazy it was in some of the pictures.

About an hour before the ships arrived, we were treated to a brief but heavy downpour, with thunder rumbling all around.  The eager crowd stuck it out, but became a bit more condensed during the rain.

The Roald Amundsen, brig from Eckernförde, Germany.

The HMS Bounty sailing up the river.

The HMS Bounty was commissioned by MGM Studios for the movie Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando.  This ship has appeared in many additional movies as well.

The Europa, a Barque from The Hague, Netherlands.

  

Hey, shouldn’t they be going upstream?  The Roseway, a schooner from the US Virgin Islands, takes a load of passengers out for a cruise.

The Denis Sullivan, a three-masted schooner out of Milwaukee, WI.

Arrrrrrg, there be pirates among us! 

My personal favorite, the Pride of Baltimore II, out of, you guessed it, Baltimore, MD.  This ship has been to town several times, and I was able to get on board for a tour its last trip to Bay City.

There were more ships, and a special surprise, this afternoon.  Those pictures will be posted tomorrow, but I think this is enough for today.  Thanks for visiting!