Welcome to Op Sail 2000 at the Inner Harbor in downtown Baltimore.
For a week in June the Inner Harbor and Fell's Point were filled with visitors and tourist from near and
far, all to get a glimpse of the "Tall Ships". The lines were long but the wait was worth it for
most. Some traveled from as far as Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia, others even further.
The procession into the Harbor was magnificent, with a tall ship arriving 2 to 3 a day starting on June 21 up until June 24th. The best images on the
television were the ships sailing under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge! It was quite a site to behold
to see the Chilean ship Esmeralda, "squeeze" her almost 200 foot height under the bridge.
From the first day the tall ships started arriving so did the flocks of onlookers. The resources at the Inner Harbor were put to
the test, Water Taxis, Tour Mobiles, Restuarants, and Street Vendors. All were over flowing, from the new ESPN Zone to HOOTERS to the sidewalk vendors, to say the least,
it was a smashing economic success for the City of Baltimore. So succesful was this event that starting
Friday June 23, there was a 2 hour wait for the water taxis and tours! By the weekend all water taxi tours were sold out through the following Monday.
One of the problems I noticed right away was timing. With tourist and visitors pouring into the Harbor each day starting at dawn, by late morning it was a full house. But most of the ships were open for visitors only after Noon or later of each day. You know if you drove many hours and countless miles, another hour or two
would not make a difference. By 11:00AM each day there was already a 2 hour wait!
In the end it was all worth it, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view, tour and touch these ships, some of which
are older than 100 years.
File Photos, Pentax efina APS Camera, 200 ISO Color Print Film
"Colored Pen" rendition on ULEAD PHOTOIMPACT
These images available in 8x10 and larger Signed Prints
Email Us For Details...
Other Resources:
Op Sail, Inner Harbor Pictures
"HMS" Rose
OP SAIL 2000
What's a Sail Boat
USS Constellation
Tall Ship Resources, Most Informative Site!!!
Tallship sail training, adventure, education, all ages, Great Lakes, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea & Ottawa
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