Tall Ships

The visiting tall ships will continue to loom large in Philadelphia this week as on-board tours and related events unfold along the Delaware River through Thursday. Then the OpSail 2000 action will move farther up the seaboard to New York for next week's really big show, starting with a huge parade of sail up the Hudson River on July Fourth. More than 150 tall ships and classic sailing vessels, nearly three dozen naval warships, and more than 50,000 spectator craft are expected in New York Harbor that day, carrying about 28,000 seamen and women from nearly 50 countries, according to New York tourism officials.

Thousands of tourists and Philadelphians lounged on the steps and along the walls of Penn's Landing yesterday morning, squinting at the waters to the south toward the Walt Whitman Bridge. At noon, they saw what some had awaited for three hours: the Gazela Philadelphia, the first and longest ship in a parade of seven tall ships that trickled into the harbor until 2 p.m. The end of their two-day trip from New York was hailed with whistles and applause; some vessels responded with gun salutes that made onlookers jump.

Anyone who loves a tall-ships parade - and who doesn't? - is in for a treat this year as the sailing program known as Operation Sail 2000 brings scores of tall ships from around the world to eight U.S. cities, including Philadelphia. Five of the ports are in the Northeast, affording multiple opportunities for taking in the show. Tall ships from more than 60 nations will take part, gathering first in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on May 25-29, then continuing to Miami, June 7-10; Norfolk, Va., June 16-20; Baltimore and Philadelphia, June 23-29 (fleet splits between the cities)

As a young girl, Esther B. Missel impressed her teachers with her drawings and paintings. After high school, she took art classes in Hartford, Conn., and New York City, and developed a talent for flowers and scenic landscapes. Mrs. Missel became renowned for her marine art. Her depictions of tall ships have been displayed all over the country, including in the rotunda of the House Office Building in Washington. Mrs. Missel, 84, of Moorestown, died of cancer Friday, June 11, at her home.

The next time Olney native Joe Horn comes back to Philly, he's bringing his 505-foot destroyer with him. That will be today, when he commands the high-tech, missile-packing USS Stout on its way up the Delaware River to join spectacular sailing ships for OpSail 2000, a weekend celebration of life on the sea. "The technology in this ship is awesome," says Horn, "particularly with its radar - which can see a long distance - and the firepower which...

The voices crackled over marine radio between the graceful Gazela Philadelphia and the Coast Guard cutter William Tate. "William Tate, this is Gazela. " "Gazela, William Tate," replied the 175-foot cutter, waiting in the Delaware River with a dozen Tall Ships at her stern. "Anchor aweigh!" announced the Gazela, as the wind began to play with her unfurling sails. "We'll move out," ordered Chief Warrant Officer Joe Hartline. "Gazela is under way. Two fireboats are on station.

One by one they motored their way up the Delaware River. "Oh, here they come!" said Karl Kiefer, 67, as he watched the first of 16 tall ships move toward Penn's Landing yesterday. "Look at that," he said while peering at the Gazela Philadelphia through a pair of binoculars. Following an escort ship that sprayed streams of water into the air, the Gazela - a 177-foot-long barquentine - glided upstream. Some of its sails were down, but only as a tribute to the thousands who watched from the banks.

It's being billed as the most historic square mile in America, when about 45 floating vessels from all over the world glide up the Delaware River in June. The Sagres II from Portugal, adorned by the Portuguese Cross of Christ; the Amerigo Vespucci from Italy, used as a sail-training vessel by the Italian Naval Academy; and our own Gazela Philadelphia, which once carried 350 tons of salt cod as a coastwide trader in Europe. The tall ships are coming to Philadelphia again. More than three million people greeted 30 of them as they graced the Delaware in 1982.

Running against the tide and urged on by the wind, a parade of tall ships heads up the Delaware River today to Philadelphia. Slow, stately and spectacular, the 15 sailing vessels are due in the waters off Penn's Landing by mid-morning. But as thousands of spectators marvel at the square-riggers and other ships, the crews will be laboring through difficult maneuvers and making it all look easy. "The reward comes when you see the parade coming up the river," said Kevin Foley, captain of the schooner America, already berthed at Penn's Landing yesterday.

The tall ships are headed back to the Delaware River. In a reprise of OpSail 2000, between 12 and 14 tall ships will parade up the river June 30 and dock at Penn's Landing and the Camden waterfront for viewing until July 5. They will include some naval ships from Poland. This year, members of the public will have to buy tickets to visit the ships. Admission was free in 2000, but less public money has been pledged for this year's event, said Judi London, executive director of the Camden Waterfront Marketing Bureau, which is organizing the event with the Penn's Landing Corp.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Robin Walbridge had been in a lot of dicey situations as the captain of the HMS Bounty, an 18th-century replica tall ship that was the set of countless movie dramas. But none of his journeys was as treacherous, perhaps, as navigating through a hurricane churning up the East Coast, becoming part of an epic storm - and a daring rescue - that seemed ripped from the Hollywood films that made the ship famous. Walbridge's wife describes him as a passionate, experienced captain, one with a cool head and a kind heart.

NEW YORK — Pity the War of 1812. Its bicentennial is at hand and events are planned for all over North America, from Canada, Pennsylvania, and the Great Lakes to the South. But good luck finding someone who can explain in 10 words or less what the war was about. Some historians see the war as a last gasp by England to control its former colonies, and it's sometimes called the Second War of Independence. At the time, Americans viewed the war "as an opportunity for us to throw off Britain once and for all," said Troy Bickham, author of a new book, The Weight of Vengeance: The United States, the British Empire and the War of 1812.

Did pirates really shout "Arrrrgh!" from the rigging? Did they ever eat meatball sandwiches during lulls in the shooting? And one wonders: Were they all named Chris? Those are some of the questions that randomly emerged Sunday during a mock pirate skirmish on the Delaware River. The fight pitted Philadelphia's tall ship, Gazela, against a weird assortment of enemies on the water, with some landlubbers thrown in - tall ships Kalmar Nyckel from Delaware and the AJ Meerwald from New Jersey; the cruiser Olympia; battleship New Jersey; Summer Wind, a Chinese junk based in Philadelphia; and even Fort Mifflin, whose shooters were on the Penn's Landing pier.

The Coast Guard's Barque Eagle, a tall ship built by the Germans in 1936 and taken by the United States after World War II, kicked off its 75th anniversary tour at Penn's Landing yesterday. The ship - originally known as the Horst Wessel - first set sail as United States property on May 20, 1946, when it left from Bremerhaven, Germany. Shockingly, even though the crew was formed with 10 U.S. and 10 German sailors only months after the war ended, tensions were subtle, said Emil Babish, a sailor who was on the maiden voyage.

Some of sailing's charm is its unpredictability. The wind dies, or blows too hard, or in the wrong direction. You surrender to nature and drop anchor, or tack, or change plans. But a five-year diversion has been just too long for devotees of Philadelphia's resident tall ship, Gazela. Hindered by a damaged rudder, the 175-foot square-rigger - built for high seas in 1883 - has confined its sailing adventures to the protected waters of the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay. On Sunday morning, however, the city's floating ambassador will hoist the sails on all three masts and, for the first time since 2005, leap into the waves of the blue Atlantic.

As a young girl, Esther B. Missel impressed her teachers with her drawings and paintings. After high school, she took art classes in Hartford, Conn., and New York City, and developed a talent for flowers and scenic landscapes. Mrs. Missel became renowned for her marine art. Her depictions of tall ships have been displayed all over the country, including in the rotunda of the House Office Building in Washington. Mrs. Missel, 84, of Moorestown, died of cancer Friday, June 11, at her home.

Politician, banker, lawyer, shopaholic. Vincent J. Fumo is all of these. But it turns out that perhaps his chief obsession is for all things nautical. That's why, for many an hour in the former state senator's marathon corruption trial, jurors have been taken on a sea cruise of sorts. They have learned about Fumo's free trips on luxury yachts. About his enthusiasm for "half-hull" boat models - 3-foot-long, highly expensive wooden ships. About how a charity paid $150,000 for a painting of a tall ship that, it is said, ended up in Fumo's mansion.

Special Events 2007 Summer Sail Tall Ships, submarines, military vessels from the coast guard & navy & more. Public tours & educational programs. Closes 6/27. Penn's Landing, Columbus Blvd.; 215-922-2386. www.pennslandingcorp.com . City Harvest Tour by Trolley City Harvest program links incarcerated men & women from the Philadelphia Prison System with community gardeners & local food cupboards. White Dog Cafe, 3420 Sansom St.; 215-386-9224. www.whitedog.com . $45 includes muffins & coffee; trolley; 3-course lunch, tax & tip. 6/23 8:30 am. Healthy Hoops 2007 Kickoff Event Healthy Hoops is an innovative health education & management program from AmeriHealth Mercy for children & their families.

Talk about disappointing. Vacation plans were set, bags were packed, and the food had been ordered. Then the day before Philadelphia's tall ship the Gazela was supposed to set sail for the Newport Wooden Boat Festival in Rhode Island, the trip was canceled when a problem with a rudder was discovered. "I was heartbroken, crestfallen and devastated," said Marcus Brandt, 49, of Allentown, who along with his 16-year-old son, was one of 30 volunteer crew members planning to make the two-week voyage to the premier event.

"Two - six - heave. " Ten sailors for a day, wearing sunglasses, khaki shorts and sandals, heard the command and yanked hard on a thick rope as a 2,000-pound sail slowly unfurled up the nearly 70-foot mast. Beads of sweat appeared on their faces but failed to dampen their grins Monday, a hot, sunny afternoon. The A.J. Meerwald, a historic oyster schooner built in 1928, still sails, but with a different mission. Now officially New Jersey's tall ship, the A.J. Meerwald offers landlubbers a nautical adventure bundled with a history lesson.