Interest in an armada of tall ships sailing between Port Angeles and Port Townsend as part of summer visits to Victoria and Tacoma is mounting, event organizers say.
Only a few seats are available for a rare ride from Port Angeles to Port Townsend on one of three tall ships — Lady Washington, Bill of Rights and Lynx — on June 28, said Les Bolton, executive director of Grays Harbor Historical Seaport in Aberdeen.
“We’ve already sold about two-thirds of the spaces for that trip,” Bolton said Tuesday.
“They’re not going to be there for too much longer.”
The three ships will be joining many from throughout the world as the American Sail Training Association runs its international Tall Ships Challenge regatta to Victoria and Tacoma in late June and early July.
As many as 20 tall ships — some more than 300 feet long — will visit Victoria’s Inner Harbour on June 23-26, then sail across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to enter the United States at Port Angeles.
After clearing customs and immigration in Port Angeles Harbor, the sailing ships will head east — some anchoring in Port Townsend Bay — en route to the Tall Ships Tacoma festival June 30-July 5.
Anywhere between 18 and 20 tall ships — a handful of them foreign-flagged vessels — are scheduled to race from Victoria to Port Angeles on June 27, and a few are likely to anchor for the night in Port Angeles and Port Townsend, said Steve Baker, race director for the American Sail Training Association.
“We have applied to have the race [from Victoria] finish a couple of miles north of Port Angeles,” said Baker.
“Some vessels may stay overnight. Others might go to anchor in Port Townsend.”
Some of the ships, Baker added, might sail straight on to Tacoma after undergoing standard customs checks in Port Angeles.