As of about 3:30 this afternoon, we’re told, the Foss Waterway Seaport’s Working Waterfront Maritime Museum has already received more visitors – about 12,000 – than it received during all of Tall Ships Tacoma 2005.

It’s constantly packed inside. Families are posing for photos in front of the vintage canoes and boats. Some are taking a break and watching videos in a darkened corner of the mammoth building. Others are admiring the antique phones or old engines on display.

"It's all part of an educational experience," Seattle's Sue Wing said. "Seeing the tall ships outside and reading about everything in here really puts it all in perspective."

Tall Ships spokesman Matt Erlich passes along these few notes:

● About 1,200 volunteers helped the festival run smoothly today.
● AMVETS hosted a barbecue for the crews of all the ships.
● There were no significant operational problems.
● The lines are moving but long, so it’s best to arrive early.

There's nothing quite like the smell of cedar.

At opposite ends of Treasure Cove, crews are chipping away at giant logs-turned-canoes. Little hills of wood chips have gathered near the feet of the crews. The pleasant smell can be sensed from 10 feet away.

Philip Red Eagle said about 100 people have been working on a Salish-style hunting canoe on Saturdays for the past 2½ years. When completed, it will measure 28 feet, 9 inches.

“It’ll hold about six pullers and one skipper when it’s done,” said Red Eagle, a participant in the Canoe Movement, an effort to help American Indian youths experience their heritage through canoe travel.

Little flakes of wood are tangled with Takirirangi Smith’s hair. He’s a Maori from New Zealand and is building a traditional fishing canoe. It’ll be just under 20 feet when it’s completed.

“I looked at the log,” he said, “and I saw a canoe.”

I'm always a bit amazed by the allure of free entertainment.

Some of the booths with the most people are companies offering games -- but usually only after you fill out a survey or hand over your e-mail, which will soon be flooded with cheap prescription drug offers and Nigerians needing a place to harbor their lottery winnings.

Here are some of the highlights I've seen:

● The Emerald Queen Casino is offering a blackjack game. You get a T-shirt for 21. Even if you lose, you still get a coupon book. And if you win the shirt, you'll eventually gamble it away.

● State Farm has one of those arcade-style basketball hoops. But after you win, they deny your claim.

● The City of Tacoma offers a beanbag toss. After that, they beg you to join the Human Rights Commission.

● The longshoreman union was handing out free Rainiers tickets. I'd write something snarky here, except I'm worried I'll be walking to my car one day and have a hook jabbed into my right temple.

So you’re stuck with the ankle-biter for a day (and, really, a lifetime – but we won’t get into that). The munchkin doesn’t care so much to see the Eagle or the Kaisei or any of the other tall ships. And he’s about 19 years too young to hit the beer garden.

Luckily, there’s a place where he can play games while you pour that rum from a flask into the Island Oasis drink.

It’s called Captain Kidd’s Cove (clever, eh?), and it’s got all sorts of games that, if your kid wasn’t playing, would make you consider taking a nap on some gravel.

But the kids sure seemed to be having a good time.

Dozens of adults dressed in pirate garb entertained kids with raise-the-flag contests and some sort of hockey played with Wiffle bats and rubber rodents. They also offered a “load the cannon” game, in which kids tossed Wiffle balls into the mouth of a replica cannon.

“This is a cool downshift for the kids,” Parkland’s Maureen Clarke said. “They were getting bored waiting in line. And when we got on some of the ships, my daughter wasn’t exactly interested. So this is something for them.”

The Nina is docked in Treasure Cove Village. And where there’s a replica of a Spanish ship, there must be conquistadors.

About 10 of the Spanish soldiers – faithfully played by participants in local reenactment troupe Goode’s Company – are performing for the crowds at Northwest Passage.

They’re donned in the garb of the era, down to metal helmets and breastplates. They regularly march in formation and swordfight for the crowds. And they’re ready for battle with pikes and muskets.

“We’re a ‘company of foote,’ or infantry, fighting in the low countries – today’s Netherlands,” said Gordon Frye of the Renaissance Military Society. “Because the English and the Spanish saw each other so often on the battlefield, their look and manner really began to resemble each other.

“That’s why, even though we primarily focus on Elizabethan reenactments, we can play the part of the Spanish.”

The group, which consists of men from around the Puget Sound area, is portraying the Spanish as an homage to the country’s history of North American exploration.

Reenactments of times past from the 1580s to the late Victorian era will be an ongoing staple of Tall Ships Tacoma, said John Salicco, the living history coordinator with the festival.

“People can often get more interested in history if they see it before their own eyes,” he said. “And we aim to entertain at the same time.”

Northwest Passage has a music stage offering live bands all day. Here's a performance from Shamrocks in the Wind:

An F-16 from the Freedom Fair airshow is flying past the Thea Foss Waterway

One of the more popular stops in Northwest Passage is Arrow Leather, which sells all things a good pirate wannabe needs, like hats, feathers, wooden swords, telescopes and leather clothing.

“Everybody wants to be a pirate ever since they were young,” co-owner Jim Wood said. “We’re letting them fulfill that.”

Jim and his wife, Kil, work out of their Chehalis home and make all the leather products. This is the 18th year they’ve been selling the stuff on the fair and festival circuit.

“This is so cool,” said 33-year-old Will Bungert of Lacey. “It lets me be a kid again.”

The Port of Tacoma is apparently on a charm offensive. It has streetlight banners hanging up and down Dock Street:

The longest line I’ve seen today has been at the entrance to the gangplank to view the Class A ships in Treasure Cove Village.

Each time I’ve walked by, the line is longer and longer.

Some advice: Just treat it like the line at an amusement park. It’ll be a wait, but something cool lies at the end.

I’m back from Northwest Passage. Most of the non Class-A ships are docked here, but the companies and organizations that have set up shop offer a rich mix of products and services.

Seriously, almost everything you need to survive is here. Real estate? Check. Windows to go with that new house? Want to join a union, or join an environmental interest group or enlist in the Marines? You can do all of that.

Stands also offer food – mostly usual fair fare like corn dogs and elephant ears – and souvenirs like T-shirts and paintings.

The Thea Foss Waterway isn’t totally jammed with people right now, but the crowds are growing. A steady stream of cars was heading toward the parking areas, and on the bus from the media lot, I heard the traffic dispatcher telling drivers it was OK to let people stand in the aisles.

I'll be back live blogging from Tall Ships Tacoma 2008 again.