Eagle to lead Portsmouth Tall Ships festival July 26 to July 28. Here are the details.

PORTSMOUTH - The 2024 Sail Portsmouth festival will take place Friday, July 26 to Sunday, July 28, and features the return of the country’s most famous tall ship, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle, to Portsmouth.

Joining the Eagle during the weekend-long festival will be the Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey and the S/V Denis Sullivan, returning to Portsmouth after participating in last year’s Sail Portsmouth festival.

This year’s Parade of Sail will take place on the morning of Friday, July 26 between 9 and 11:30 a.m., kicking off the festival.

Recreational and commercial boaters invited to join Parade of Sail

“Sail Portsmouth is dedicated to bringing the magic of tall ships to our shores,” said Robin Comstock, a member of the Sail Portsmouth Board of Directors. “We invite everyone to join us for an unforgettable experience filled with history, adventure and the timeless allure of the sea.”

All recreational and commercial fishing boaters are invited to participate in the Parade of Sail, which will also include the city’s fireboat, a Navy tug from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and Portsmouth’s own tall ship, the Gundalow Piscataqua, all welcoming the tall ships to the city on the morning of July 26th. The exact timing of the Parade of Sail on July 26th is determined by that day’s tides and weather.

Eagle will be open for tours at State Pier in Portsmouth

During the festival, the USCGC Eagle will be docked at the state pier in Portsmouth and open for tours on Saturday and Sunday, July 27 and 28, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tours are free and open to the public. There will be a dockside maritime tent at the state pier with educational booths, live entertainment, food, children’s activities and even roaming pirates.

“In the past few years volunteering at the festival, I’ve seen multiple generations in line, grandparents standing with children and grandchildren,” Comstock said. “Telling them stories, stories about living on the river or telling them about their parents who were in the Navy, or worked on the river, remembering their maritime history and having it touch the present and the future.”

Public can sail aboard Ernestina-Morrissey and Shining Star

From July 25 to 28, sails will be offered on both the Ernestina-Morrissey and Denis Sullivan, which will be docked at the University of New Hampshire Pier in New Castle.

Passengers can ride in the Parade of Sail aboard the M/V Shining Star or the Ernestina-Morrissey. On the Ernestina-Morrissey, passengers will be able to join the crew in hoisting the sails and steering the ship, and will learn about this schooner’s history. This sail will leave from the University of New Hampshire pier on Sullivan Lane in New Castle at 9 a.m. on July 26. Passengers are asked to arrive at 8:30 a.m. to park and check in. Tickets are $88 per person.

This year, a ride aboard the M/V Shining Star during the Parade of Sail is also available. The Shining Star will head out to Star Island to watch the tall ships assemble for the Parade of Sail and will accompany the tall ships up the river. This sail will leave from the Kittery Town Dock at 8 a.m. on July 26th and will return there after the parade. Tickets are $60.

On Saturday, July 27, the Schooner Denis Sullivan will sail on a one-way trip to Boston.

It will depart from the UNH pier in New Castle and will arrive at the Moakley Courthouse Dock in Boston after an eight- to ten-hour sail. Tickets are $155. Passengers must be ambulatory and 8 years old and above. There is free parking at the UNH pier, but no overnight parking is allowed. Passengers arrange rides back to New Hampshire. The C&J Bus terminal at South Station in Boston is a 10-minute walk from the dock.

Tickets for the two-hour sails on the Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey are $75. All tickets can be purchased online at sailportsmouth.org.

Gundalow can accommodate people with mobility challenges

All passengers must be ambulatory for the tall ship sails. The Gundalow Piscataqua, which is equipped to accommodate people with mobility disabilities, will also be offering sails and can be booked by calling (603) 433-9505 or online at www.gundalow.org.

The annual Sail Portsmouth festival raises money for the Sea Challenge Scholarship Fund, which gives local high school students the opportunity to spend a week aboard a tall ship at sea during the summer. This year’s Sea Challenge will take place July 19 to 26. For more info, visit sailportsmouth.org.

“The festival and our donors fund the Sea Challenge. It’s so much more than a festival, it makes the benefits of experiencing life at sea for one full week available to teens,” Comstock said. “It’s a unique experience of the past and how we became who we are today, and an opportunity to learn about themselves through the maritime experience.”

The Sail Portsmouth festival relies heavily on volunteers. There’ll be a volunteer training session on Sunday, July 14 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Music Hall Lounge on Congress Street in Portsmouth. Those interested in volunteering can register on the Sail Portsmouth website at sailportsmouth.org/become-a-volunteer.

“Sail Portsmouth is dedicated to bringing the magic of tall ships to our shores,” said Robin Comstock, a member of the Sail Portsmouth Board of Directors. “We invite everyone to join us for an unforgettable experience filled with history, adventure and the timeless allure of the sea.”

Again this year, tours of and sails on the tall ships will be available during the festival and there’ll be food, activities and entertainment in a dockside maritime tent. The annual Sail Portsmouth festival raises money for the Sea Challenge Scholarship Fund, which gives local high school students the opportunity to spend a week aboard a tall ship at sea. Sail Portsmouth is an all-volunteer, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Tickets and information are available at sailportsmouth.org.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Eagle to lead Tall Ships coming to Portsmouth, NH July 26 to July 28