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Hailed and harbored
By ALICIA CALDWELL, Times Staff Writer
Susan and Baxter Smith had overslept, scrapped their plans to put their boat in the water, and instead drove to the Sunshine Skyway bridge to watch Thursday's tall-masted ship parade. Fortune smiled on them: The retired couple from south Tampa managed to find a mostly deserted abutment under the bridge approach from which to watch the parade, exclaiming with gusto as each ship passed under the bridge. "This is our own little piece of paradise," said Susan Smith, 59, sporting oversized white-rimmed sunglasses and a straw hat. The Smiths were among about 10,000 people who lined waterfront parks, bridges and seawalls Thursday in southern Pinellas County to watch Americas' Sail 2002, a parade of eight assorted boats -- two of them classic three-masted ships, with more than a dozen sails each. Another 1,000 recreational boaters joined the flotilla, which was punctuated by sporadic cannon volleys, and fly-overs by U.S. Coast Guard helicopters and other aircraft. It was a festive, but relatively peaceful event for a warm summer day: Police and Coast Guard officials reported no problems associated with the parade. Party central was the fifth floor of the Pier, which offered a panoramic view of the controlled chaos on the water below. Along with the parade boats, there were sailboats with pirate flags aloft, weaving among sea kayaks and power boats. "It's Thursday morning in St. Pete, can you believe it?" asked Jack Glasure, president of St. Petersburg Events, the group formed to organize the festival along with the Downtown Partnership. "It's the longest, hottest day of the year. There isn't supposed to be anybody in town. But they are. And they're having a ball." The National Weather Service recorded the temperature at 85 degrees at Albert Whitted Airport by noon. People stood six and seven deep at the east end of the Pier, and throngs crowded the first floor, buying food, drinks, souvenir programs, T-shirts and ship-shaped hats.
"This is the biggest crowd I've seen all year -- husbands, wives, grandmas, grandpas and kids," said George Stone, a Pier shuttle bus driver. "Everyone's in a festive mood. It's awesome." Cha Cha Coconuts, the Pier's rooftop restaurant, was the site of a $25-per-person brunch buffet. The staff prepared for about 800, and the outdoor viewing areas had a standing-room only crowd. The flotilla crossed under the Skyway about 9 a.m. and ever so slowly went north toward Coffee Pot Bayou, before doing a U-turn and heading for the port of St. Petersburg, which is in Bayboro Harbor. The first ship in the parade, the Eagle, picked up several passengers, including St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, as it approached the Skyway. "I got to raise the St. Petersburg flag on the mast before we went under the Skyway, which was cool," Baker said. The Coast Guard had established a 500-yard security zone around the tall ships participating, but despite numerous federal, state and local law enforcement patrol crafts on the water, officials were lucky if they could keep the spectator boats 100 feet from the fleet. "People want to get close to get a good look," said Lt. Cmdr. Wes Pulver of the U.S. Barque Eagle. "It is a difficult rule to enforce with so many boats on the water." Hundreds of pleasure craft, ranging from 17-foot open fishermen to 50-foot sailing sloops, followed the tall ships in from Egmont Key. The procession advanced without incident, but visitors aboard the Coast Guard ship shivered involuntarily each time a nearby spectator boat fired a toy cannon. "I know it is coming, but still every time it fires I get a little jumpy," said Rene Flowers, one of four City Council members who accompanied Baker for the ride in. While a select few came into port on the parade boats, most people watched from land. A crowd of about 200 gathered about 7:30 a.m. at Fort De Soto's Bay Pier. Many had binoculars in one hand and coffee in the other. Ramon Castillo, 35, a systems analyst from Wesley Chapel, was among them. He said he loves to take photographs and rescheduled a conference call to drive to Pinellas to see the ships. "I'll be here till the last one goes by," he said. Also in the crowd were Roy Yawn, 74, of Largo and Ed Tharpe, 76. Both are Coast Guard retirees, and were eager to see the Coast Guard ship. "Last time I saw the Eagle she was at Havana Harbor in Cuba," Yawn said. In Lassing Park in St. Petersburg, several hundred people dotted the park from 15th to 22nd avenues SE. Cindy Snow, 45, of St. Petersburg was one of about 2,000 people who watched the parade from the sea walls at North Shore and Vinoy parks. Snow, a seventh-grade life science teacher at Largo Middle School, said she was enjoying the event despite the heat. Her dog, Kenzie, didn't appear as interested. "You don't care about the ships, do you?" she said, pouring bottled water into the boxer's mouth. Snow, however, said she planned to attend the maritime festival at the port, which begins today. "I grew up on boats on the Great Lakes," she said. "I wouldn't miss it." -- Times staff writers Mary Jane Park, Chaundra Perkins and Terry Tomalin contributed to this report.
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