The Tall Ships Festival in St. Petersburg, Florida was a sight to behold but the logistics of the event fell short. It would be spectacular if things were organized a bit better. Well . . . that’s not entirely true. It was spectacular but the long lines, lack of seating and poorly thought-out trolley pick-ups at the event exit put a damper on things.
The event showcased the R/V Weatherbird II, Pride of Baltimore II, the Spanish galleon Nao Trinidad, the schooner Ernestina Morrissey (designated as a National Landmark), the Elissa, Jolly II Rover, Suncoast Horizon and (for me) the winner of the most innovative name – the When and If. They stood majestically along the dock and made for some beautiful photos.
I especially enjoyed stepping onboard the Nao Trinidad. This vessel was a true-scale version of the original and built by Fundacion Nao Victoria, a Spanish institute specializing in historic ships. The reconstruction began in January of 2017 and was completed in March 2018.Although other ships had crew members who would answer questions, the Nao Trinidad was set up with signage (in several languages) to teach you about each area of the ship and its usage.
For instance, the ship’s large hold area was traditionally filled with food and merchandise stored in barrels and bundles. This below deck environment was hot and not considered to be a “breathable” space so life on board the ship was operated from the deck – except for the captain, who had his own private quarters.
The Nao Trinidad’s crew was equally interesting. One young man was from Spain, and Wesley (pictured below) was from Puerto Rico. He told us he enjoyed being able to climb up to the crow’s nest at night and watch the stars. I’m a little jealous. It sounds wonderful. No noise. No lights to obscure the brilliance of the stars.
Overall, I don’t think I would recommend this to other seniors. The online information was good and made the purchase of tickets and getting to the event easy. But once we got there, it all went to hell.
We had to walk several blocks to the end of the line where people queued to get in. We waited, with virtually no shade and no place to sit down, for almost an hour. I would not advise General Admission tickets; be sure to include access to boarding the ships or there will be little to nothing for you to do. Once inside the gate, seating was minimal, and it was hot. If you are wheelchair bound, I did not see a way for you to access the ships so you will really have nothing to do.
The worst thing for me was that after walking the length of the dock to the exit at the far end, there were no trolley pick-ups. We had to traipse back past the entrance and down the blocks we’d come up earlier to the original trolley drop-off point.
- 250 8th Ave. S.E., Bayboro Harbor, St. Petersburg, Florida
Lisa Browder 
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