June 28, 2010

U.S. Brig Niagara, a symbol of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and reminder of the Battle of 1812, will be at the Toronto Waterfront Festival, which runs from June 30 to July 4. (August Gengenbach/QMI Agency)

"Ahoy there matey, come on aboard me ship."

Don't fear, you landlubbers, when the HMS Bounty sails into Toronto harbour with 10 other tall ships next week. Those scallywag pirates from the days of yore are long gone.

Built for the 1962 movie Mutiny on the Bounty and renewed for 2006's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the ship is a star attraction at the Redpath Toronto Waterfront Festival.

Running from June 30 through July 4, the festival presents the Great Lakes United Tall Ships Challenge along the Lake Ontario waterfront from Yonge St. to Lower Spadina Ave.

For just a small handful of doubloons (called loonies these days), crews of the majestic sailing vessels welcome visitors aboard.

"The HMS Bounty is the most-recognized name to North Americans because of her being featured in Hollywood films and, of course, her story," said Krista Slack, festival producer.

"However, our European ships have international reputations as spectacular sail-training vessels that travel throughout the world."

Photo ops will be plenty as the tall ships take part in a Parade of Sail as they leave the harbour on July 4 at 2:15 p.m. As well, this is prime viewing grounds for the Ontario Place Festival of Fire fireworks extravaganza on July 1 and July 3 at 10:30 p.m.

"Toronto is the first and only Canadian port of call for the tall ships race that will attract millions of tourists throughout the Great Lakes region," said publicist Daniel Paquette.

The ships then set sail for Cleveland, Bay City, Green Bay, Duluth and Chicago.

* * *

Everything's ship-shape with these featured vessels:

• HMS Bounty was created for MGM Studios in Lunenburg, N.S. in 1962 for a movie about the 1789 maritime mutiny in the South Pacific and extensively renovated for the 2006 movie. The global voyager, homeported at Greenport (Long Island) N.Y., is dedicated to preserving the fine art of square-rigged sailing.

• Brig Roald Amudsen was designed as a deep sea fish lugger in 1952 and equipped to service the military fleet of former East Germany. Now she's a traditional brig tall ship intended for sail training.

• Bark Europa of the Netherlands entered service in Hamburg in 1911 and now travels the world, often in the Antarctic, where the crew involves the passengers in running and sailing her.

• Pride of Baltimore II is a topsail schooner built as a replica of a classic 1812 Baltimore Clipper owned by the State of Maryland. With an international sailing schedule, she accommodates six passengers as "working guest crew."

• Denis Sullivan, from Milwaukee, is the re-creation of a three-masted, 19th-century Great Lakes' schooner launched in 2000 as a tall ship for scientific research and education.

• Schooner Appledore V of Bay City, Mich. provides youth sail training and the fresh-water science program Windward Bound.

• U.S. Brig Niagara was built in 1988 as a reconstruction of the war ship that's the symbol of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a reminder of the battle of 1812.

• Pathfinder and Playfair are two Toronto Brigantine square-rigged ships that provide sail training for young people.

• Unicorn, a topsail schooner from the U.S. Virgin Islands, was refitted in 2003. She took back her "maiden name" after a few years in Toronto called True North. With an all-woman crew, she provides the Sisters under Sail leadership program.

  The festival, expected to attract 800,000 visitors, offers numerous activities, entertainment, food, drink and the environmental Green Village.

  Jim Fox can be reached at onetanktrips@hotmail.com

  IF YOU GO

  There is no charge to attend the Redpath Toronto Waterfront Festival, June 30 to July 4 from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Details: www.towaterfrontfest.com

  Dockside deck tours require ship boarding passes for July 1 to 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and July 4 from 9 a.m. to noon.

  Daily boarding passes are $12 online ($15 on site); multi-day, $17 ($20); daily priority VIP, $22 ($30); and multi-day priority VIP, $27 (not available on site). No charge for children to age four.