If you'd like to get an early, and probably less-crowded, look at the Nina before Tall Ships Tacoma, you might plan on a trip to Seattle next month. The historically accurate replica of Columbus' favorite ship will be at the Center for Wooden Boats, 1010 Valley St., June 19 through 23.
The ship will be open for self-guided tours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, with discounts for seniors and students and free for kids 4 and under.

Read more about the Nina here.

Eric Franklin had never been aboard a sailboat when he signed up for the Youth on Board program. He’ll spend four days as a crew member on a Tall Ship sailing from Victoria, B.C., to Tacoma.

“To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what to expect,” the Mount Tahoma High School freshman said. “It looks like a lot of hard work. But I think it’ll be exciting.”

He experienced a little taste of what lies ahead Saturday morning.

Franklin and the 47 other participants in the program sailed around Puget Sound aboard the Odyssey, an 88½-foot yawl. The crew, most of whom are members of the Sea Scouts, led the Youth on Board participants in the tasks required to raise the sails and late gave tours of what lay below deck.

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The Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain will be just a few hours away later this month.

The two ships – both of which will participate in this year’s Tall Ships Tacoma event – will be in Rainier, Ore., and St. Helens, Ore., on May 20 and 21. Each will be open for tours from 4-5 p.m.

They’ll follow that with a trip to Vancouver, Wash., which lasts until May 28.

“While in Rainier and St. Helens,” a press release said, “the crews of both ships will welcome students from the communities of Redmond, Vernonia, and Kelso, Wash. for educational programs. The students will learn how to raise a sail, sing a sea shanty, and hear stories of maritime life in the 18th century.”

Updates on locations of some of the Tacoma-bound ships:

• Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain have been in Coos Bay, Ore. this week and are heading up the coast. Here's a slideshow from the Coos Bay World.

• The USCG Eagle is on its way to Mazatlan, Mexico, where it's supposed to be next week.

• At last report, the HMS Bounty was going through the Panama Canal.

Fans of maritime art will have a chance to get excited about Tall Ships well before the Parade of sail.

The South Sound Maritime Juried Art Exhibit, with 100 paintings and 20 sculptures, will run from June 16 through July 18 at the Bronze Works Studio at 2506 S. Fawcett Ave. You'll be welcome to drop in from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays throughout the show.

Look for works by members of Pacific Gallery Artists and the Rainier League of Arts. Maritime artist Marshall Johnson and Bronze Works Studio owner Kevin Keating will juror the pieces.

If you're not familiar with the Bronze Works Studio, it offers some of the coolest drive-by art you're likely to see. It casts, among other things, major pieces of public art for cities across the country, then sets them outside the studio. One day you may see a larger-than-life settler busting sod, and the next you might get a look at his mighty ox, or a pack of wolves or other impressive wildlife. The studio participates in Tacoma's Art Walks, and, of course, you can always stop in and thank them for the movable show.

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News Tribune business columnist Dan Voelpel tells a nice little tale in his column today.

It sounded like an urban legend. A myth fueled by muddled mis-understandings of foreign sailors speaking Spanish and Russian. The story goes like this:

During Tall Ships Tacoma 2005, a group of young sailors on shore leave from the Mexican sailing ship Cuauhtemoc or, perhaps, the Russian Pallada bumped into someone with a fancy car. Some versions of the story describe the car as a Jaguar. Some described it as a Mercedes. Others, a vintage roadster.

To read on, check out Dan's column.