The Festival of Sail was held in Duluth Harbor last weekend, but those who missed it needn’t be disappointed. Many of the tall ships will be visible from the Wisconsin side of Lake Superior as they make their way to their next ports of call — including some stops on the South Shore.
“Our path takes us past the Apostle Islands,” said Captain Lily Heyns of the S/V Inland Seas. “It’s really going to depend on the weather, but if we’re able to stop, we’re absolutely going to.”
Otherwise, the next scheduled port for the 77-foot topsail schooner is in Houghton, Michigan — for landlubbers, a three-hour drive. Heyns and Erin Short, director of communications for Tall Ships America, spoke with WPR’s Robin Washington on “Morning Edition” about the ships and their returning voyages.
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The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Robin Washington: The festival ended on Sunday, July 13, and ships began their return voyages on Monday. What should we be looking for from the Wisconsin shore this week?
Erin Short: The ships are kind of scattering. The easiest way to see them is to track them on the website marinetraffic.com, which updates about every eight minutes. Several of the ships are going to be headed to the Apostle Islands and others are making their way across Lake Superior because they have ports to get to in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.
Captain Lily Heyns: You can track the Inland Seas on our website, schoolship.org. It has information about our boats and our organization. Tall ship festivals account for about 1 percent of the Inland Seas’ programming. Our mission is education, promoting Great Lakes stewardship and providing people with a positive connection to the water.
RW: Are there any times that you pull into port for an unscheduled stop?
LH: Those opportunities are pretty rare. But on our way to Duluth, we were able to make time over our five-day journey for a quick stop in the Apostle Islands, to drop an anchor and go for a swim call.
The boat includes a combination of staff, crew, educators and volunteers. Every trip we do has a different makeup of people, and it’s wonderful getting to know folks better, having fun together, standing watches and just experiencing the beauty of our lakes.
RW: How closely do you come to the shore? Will we need binoculars to see you?
LH: We see the shore the whole time we’re out, with binoculars. So I would definitely recommend them.
RW: Why are tall ships still fascinating?
ES: There is a sense of adventure to them. When you look at them, all you can think about is sailing away and what’s over the horizon. You’re away from all the distractions of the modern world. There’s a sense of community on board. There’s a saying in the tall ships community that goes something like “Ship, shipmate…” Captain Lily, help me out!
LH: “Ship, shipmate, self.”
ES: That’s it!
LH: That’s the order, because in the rest of our lives, we’re really oriented to self first. Aboard the ship, it has to be ship first, because the ship is what keeps us safe when we’re out on the water. Then it’s our shipmates. I tell people if there are 13 people aboard, that means there are 12 people who are prioritizing me, which is true for each and every person aboard. It’s incredibly better than everyone being focused on themselves.
If you have an idea about something in northern Wisconsin you think we should talk about on Morning Edition, send it to us at northern@wpr.org.
