Straight off the Victoria Clipper, we set off to see the Tall Ships, beginning with Adventuress, moored in front of the Empress Hotel.

It was surprisingly easy – no lines and no waiting for those mid-sized ships.

That’s a huge improvement over the 2005 festival, when people complained about long waits in hot weather.

The weather’s about the same, in the 80s, and feeling like the 90s, but even for the big boats, the lines are short and survivable. At noon, it took about 20 minutes to see Lynx, Lady Washington and Canada’s sleek racer HMCS Oriole.

It’s not that there are fewer people here. Festival spokesman Bill Eisenhauer says sales of $5 tickets to the festival grounds are at or above 2005 levels. Organizers have just developed a smarter, simpler system for getting as many people as possible onto as many boats as possible.
Late in the afternoon, it took us only 15 minutes to get onto U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle’s self-guided tour.

People here are still yearning to see Eagle under sail.

On Thursday, the winds picked up before the Parade of Sail from Fort Rodd Hill into Victoria Harbour. The gusts, said, Eisenhauer, were so strong, organizers had to tell some ticket holders they could not board their ships for the parade past the crowded shoreline. The wind was so strong it could have powered Eagle to speeds unsafe in the harbor crowded with Tall ships, sea planes, tourist craft and kayaks. Fans are now hoping Eagle will be able to depart under sail on Monday, so they can see her at her best.

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Tall Ships volunteer Jerry Collen called last night with a request to get the word out on a project he's working on.

You see, Jerry's job is to pick up any mail for the ships at the downtown post office and deliver it to the sailors. He's trying to drum up a little advance business by encouraging local residents to write welcome letters to visiting sailors. Tell them about yourself. Give them visitor tips for Tacoma. Ask them to write back.

Sounds like just the job for my 8-year-old who's already complaining about being bored two weeks into summer vacation.

Address letters to:

Tall Ships Tacoma
(Name of Ship)
General Delivery
Tacoma, WA 98402

Let's fill up Jerry's mailbag.

Welcome aboard the Victoria Clipper.
We’re passing Kingston, heading for Victoria Harbour and the first festival of the 2008 Tall Ships Challenge.

It should be a doozy.

British Columbia marks its 150th anniversary as a crown colony this year, and Tall Ships is the premier event of the celebration, said Geoff Corbett, Executive Director of Victoria Tall Ships Society.

They’re having some fun with that centennial-and-a-half at the festival, with many of their performances tied to Victoria’s history.

And they’ll have historically correct food.

A group called History Bites has lined up vendors to sell dishes that represent each of BC’s official decades, everything from venison to crumpets. We’ll sample a few of the historical flavors and get back to you.

We’ve run into several folks on the Clipper who are heading up for Tall Ships. That should warm the cockles of B.C. government types.

“The provincial government has been very supportive of the event,” Corbett said.

No wonder.

Economists from the University of British Columbia studied the impact Tall Ships 2005 had on the province.

“We had a $4.3 to $5 million boost to the economy as a direct result of funds brought in from outside,” Corbett said.

It looks promising for a repeat. The hotels are getting full. Tickets to board the ships have been selling briskly.

“We’ve seen ticket sales to people from five or six European Countries,” Corbett said. ”And Alberta has been a huge market. Last time it accounted for 10 or 11 percent of the tickets. Now it may be higher.”

Consider that a reminder to call all your friends and relations in Idaho and Michigan and tell them they still have time to get their debit cards out to Commencement Bay by July 3.