Several readers have called or e-mailed to winder if there was a “reverse Parade of Sail,” when all the ships would be leaving Tacoma.

The answer is a definite maybe.

Most are scheduled to leave between 6-8 a.m. Some are leaving later. Others have already left or are staying around a while.

Here’s a breakdown of what ship is leaving and when:

About 4:45 a.m.:
● Oriole

Between 6-8 a.m.:
● Kaisei
● Bounty
● Merrie Ellen
● Nina
● Adventuress
● Mycia
● Lavengro
● Red Jacket
● Rejoice
● Lady Washington
● Mallory Todd
● Kia Ora
● Cutty Sark

Between 4-8 a.m.:
● Resolute

About 10 a.m.:
● Virginia V

Leaving tonight/already gone:
● U.S. Coast Guard Eagle
● Hawaiian Chieftain
● Zodiac
● Lynx
● Yankee Clipper
● Amazing Grace

Staying in the area:
● Charles Curtis (local boat)
● Tug Joe (local boat)
● Odyssey (for 10 days)
● Sydney Waite (for 10 days)
● USAR Tug (local boat)

The rocky shore of the Thea Foss Waterway isn’t exactly Omaha Beach, but that didn’t stop 47-year-old Lon Hudson from dreaming a little bit.

“I’ll admit it: I was kind of thinking it was like Normandy when we were getting off,” the DuPont resident said after departing from an LCM-8 landing craft.

But the boat, usually called a Mike Boat, has its roots in the Vietnam War, not World War II. The 175th Transportation Company was offering rides on the 74-foot landing crafts as part of a goodwill gesture, said Sgt. Randy Ichiyama.

The rides, which usually last about 30 minutes, ferry passengers past most of the tall ships on display. And to offload, it backs up to the shore in Thea’s Park, plops down its ramp and allows the passengers to just walk off.

“It’s something that’s fun and free,” Tacoma’s Linda Cooper said. “And it just looks so cool.”

From Rod Koon, the directior of communications at the Port of Tacoma and a Tall Ships volunteer:

An ode to Tall Ships® Volunteers
Sung to the tune: Pay Me My Money Down

We need lots of folks to lend a hand
Tall Ships are Coming 'Round
To make a Fest that will be grand
Tall Ships are Coming 'Round

They last came here in 2005
Tall Ships are Coming 'Round
And they made our city really come alive
Tall Ships are Coming 'Round

CHORUS
Tall Ships, Tall Ships, Tall Ships are coming 'round
They're gonna shine a bright light on T-Town
Tall Ships are coming 'round

Young folks, old folks, babies too
Tall Ships are Coming 'Round
Will come down to the Foss to get a closer view
Tall Ships are Coming 'Round
We'll have great music and real fine food
Tall Ships are Coming 'Round
It might just put you in a Pirate Mood
Tall Ships are Coming 'Round

CHORUS

It's a huge event, that fact is clear
Tall Ships are Coming 'Round
So we hope you'll take the time to volunteer
Tall Ships are Coming 'Round

It will make you smile, it will make you grin
Tall Ships are Coming 'Round
The day our ships come sailin' in
Tall Ships are Coming 'Round

CHORUS

Whilst sauntering through Trade Winds village, particularly Captain Kidd's Cove, I noticed that female pirates significantly outnumbered their male counterparts. Why this gender imbalance, considering that piracy wasn't exactly the most female-friendly profession?

Nena "Barakuda" Boyer of Shelton offered one explanation. "Once you put kids into play, you need women to draw them in," she said. "Men can come off as too gruff."

Bellevue's Allan "Bartholomew Heart" Seuss interpreted the mini-trend as a long-delayed homage to female buccaneers.

"In history, there have been female pirateers," he said. "You just don't hear about them."

Tongue firmly in cheek, Robbin "Black Widow" Emery said that her crew was on the lookout for a "robust" male captain. "You must be a manly-man pirate to handle some of these wenches."

Touché.

An Army landing craft is offering free tours of Foss Waterway both today and tomorrow. Excursions are every half hour, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Board at Thea's Park.

More motivation to get out early today: At 10:30 a.m., the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra will be performing at the Treasure Cove stage in Thea's Park in honor of the armed services. The orchestra will be fortuitously positioned in front of the Eagle as well, so don't forget to bring your cameras.

Peter Haley/The News Tribune

In case you've missed some of the links to all the great multimedia available online for Tall Ships Tacoma, here's a list of the galleries, video, audio slideshows and 360-degree QTVRs we've put together so far.

• Gallery: Tall Ships Tacoma Parade of Sail

• Gallery: Setting sail with the tall ships

• Video: Learn about cannon battling on tall ships

• Gallery: Photos from the Tall Ships festival

• Gallery: Tall ships muster in Quartermaster Harbor

• Slideshow: It's a pirate's life

• Gallery: Aboard the USCG Eagle

• Gallery: Tall ships in Victoria, BC.

• 360 VR: Meet the Lady Washington

• 360 VR: Meet the Bounty

• 360 VR: Meet the Eagle

Staff multimedia producer Joe Barrentine spent some time Saturday learning about how sailing ships engage in battle. Check out his video here.

The Tacoma Symphony Orchestra will perform a free concert tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. in Thea’s Park. (The U.S. Coast Guard Eagle as a backdrop? Now that’s a setting.)

The orchestra will perform “a program of light classics, popular and patriotic favorites,” according to a press release. Among them ate Tchaikovsky’s Russian Sailor’s Dance and John Phillip Sousa’s Anchor and Star March.

For those of you who only know classical music through movies, the orchestra will play The Blue Danube (the Strauss classic from “2001: A Space Odyssey”) and the theme music from Indiana Jones.

Camp Patriot, a non-profit which provides outdoor activities wounded veterans, is hosting a kick-off party for their “Quest for the Summit” program aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Eagle today.

Three vets will climb Mount Rainier beginning Monday, and two groups – Rainier Mountaineering Inc. and International Mountain Guides – will help with their ascent.

The meet-and-greet aboard the Eagle begins at 6 p.m.

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