Opinion: Tall ships event did well given time constraints

Now that a little time has passed and we have gained some perspective, we want to thank the St. Petersburg Times for its partnership in bringing about this extraordinary community festival. We are especially grateful for the outstanding news coverage of the tall ships event, starting from before the first ships arrived here from Jamaica. We also want to take this chance to respond to your July 5 editorial (Ships come up short), and to set the record straight on a number of points.

Let's consider the context. With just five months to plan, and with no budget or organization in place, a cadre of 200-plus volunteers put together a complex event that other cities typically take two years to produce. Some of these volunteers were motivated by love of tall ships or prior experience with maritime activity. The two things that all of them have in common however are a great desire to serve and a love for St. Petersburg. We are also grateful to the many corporate and community partners who came together in such a short time to provide the financial and technical support necessary to produce Americas' Sail 2002 in the first place. Their guidance and positive encouragement enabled us to press forward despite the obstacles.

The hard fact is that most of the problems that have come to our attention can be traced back to one source: not enough time to fully develop all of the details. Did we make some mistakes? Absolutely! Are there things we'll do better next time? Certainly! Virtually all first-time festivals are forced to learn by doing, and we are assuredly in that category. With about 100,000 people coming to the festival, some unfortunately went home feeling less than satisfied. For many of those, we have already made adjustments, and to others we have asked for their participation in planning the next event.

We balance this reality with the knowledge that the vast majority of festival-goers had a pleasant experience. We got the ships here, we produced the largest Parade of Sail in America in decades as a free show, and we provided a chance for our citizens to learn a bit more about our connectedness with the sea. And, like any major festival, there were lots of things to do. Forty-three musical acts from two stages, a wide variety of food and beverage, educational and environmental displays, electric water misters to cool the crowds, free plane and Hovercraft rides and kids activities galore rounded out the festival experience for many people, offsetting the high temperatures and long lines.

Most of all, we are grateful for the opportunity to serve as the executive committee for Americas' Sail 2002-St. Petersburg. The event brought an enormous amount of positive exposure to our city and our citizens. St. Petersburg has a lot going for it, and we hope that your readers will agree.
-- Don Shea, general chairman; Jack Glasure, David Calametti, Sue Cooper-Street Fowler, Jackie Calametti, executive committee, Americas' Sail 2002-St. Petersburg

City should be commended

The Times' editorial, Ships come up short, was somewhat unfair and quite hypocritical. No one likes long lines, but it seems to me the Times is a contributor to this occurrence considering the massive publicity it gave the event and the free advertising (contributed by the Times for being a sponsor). Don't you think the Times had some shared responsibility with regard to festival attendance? After all, the paper knows how small the port is and it also knows how powerful the effect of the Times' own promotions and advertising, including the "kids get in free" sweetener. A little introspection is needed here on the part of the Times before it goes on castigating others.

Nobody likes long lines, but if you did not attend at peak periods, you would not have experienced excessive waiting. Granted, there were a host of other unforeseen issues that created frustration. But none of the frustrations were purposeful on the part of those who threw the party. They were simply unfortunate. Many more people had a positive experience than negative. I know because I was there.

It is unfair to criticize the city of St. Petersburg for going along with a festival that nobody had ample time to perfectly think through and prepare fully. No one locally had done this sort of thing before and it took quick action and risk-taking to actually bring this tremendous event to our city in such little time. The city should be commended for such progressiveness, not torched because there were disappointments.

Considering such limited experience on the part of the sponsors of the festival, I think the overall event during the three days, as well as Thursday's Parade of Sail, Captain's Reception, and Gala Dinner, went remarkably well for a first attempt. Myself and countless others volunteered hundreds of hours to see this thing through. The Rotarians, Boys and Girls Club, Seratomas, Northeast Exchange members, various Krewes, Times employees and many more folks worked together to make it happen. And, again, it did happen well, just not perfectly well.

Infancy is to blame, not the city or the organizers of the event.
-- Andrew C. Orr, St. Petersburg

A disappointing experience

In regard to the Americas' Sail 2002 in St. Petersburg, we were very disappointed in many aspects. First, let us say that we vigorously defend our city on a regular basis, but not this time.

We chose to go on Sunday but had heard nothing about the Eagle leaving after Saturday. When we arrived downtown and drove down Third Street S we came upon a man directing traffic at an intersection and were waved on into what is apparently a USF parking lot. There was no sign to indicate a parking fee. Being told the fee was $15 for a compact car, we wanted to leave but due to the traffic situation there was no escape, so we had no choice but to pay the outrageous fee. We walked to what appeared to be the entrance and when we questioned where to go for the patron boarding passes, commemorative magazine and festival dollars (which we never received), we were directed to first one ticket window and then another. After waiting through long lines in each, we finally were directed to go "down the road" to the correct booth. Nothing was clearly marked and the booths were scattered all over.

To our great disappointment, there was really only one true tall ship. Seeing the quarter-mile-long line to go aboard the tall ship, we waited for hours to see the small ones. By the time we finished that tour we were so hot and tired that nobody wanted to wait in another huge line to see the tall ship. We left after four hours, feeling we had totally wasted $95 for tickets and parking, not to mention total exhaustion.

In the future, we sincerely hope the city does a better job of getting sponsorship to reduce ticket cost, clearly marking the parking fees, setting up the entrance booths in a central location with proper signs and better informed volunteers. We love our city, but it fell flat on its face with this one.
-- Richard and Carol Keller, St. Petersburg

Information made for a great visit

I am sorry to read about all the problems incurred by people who went to the tall ships festival. Here is what I did. Since the beginning, I kept all the newspaper articles about this upcoming festival. Since the ships docked on Thursday, I decided not to visit the first day or Friday -- too much hoopla. When I saw in the newspaper that the Eagle was departing on Sunday morning, I decided that Saturday afternoon was the day to visit. I drove down to St. Petersburg and parked a few blocks away for free on the street near the YWCA. Since the Eagle was advertised as a free show (why see the others, it was the biggest ship), all I did was to walk up to the Eagle and get my boarding pass from a Coast Guard cadet.

I had to wait (no problem, I had my big water bottle) more than an hour for the next tour. So I found an area in the shade around the corner from the Coast Guard vessel. When the 3:30 p.m. tour was about to begin, I left the cool shade and went to the ship and walked up the gangway.

All the information regarding the festival was printed in the newspaper. Checking the Internet was also helpful. The visit was a great experience.
-- Mike Zbrozek, New Port Richey

Downtown events deserve support

Several letters to the editor on July 3 made valid complaints about the Americas' Sail tall ships event downtown. Some of the writers indicated they were so disgusted with the event they would never attend another downtown event again. I would respectfully request that these writers reconsider that thought.

Many successful events are held downtown every year, including Taste of Pinellas, Mainsail Arts Festival, Ribfest, the Blues Festival, X-Games Trials, Hurricane Classic Boat Races and others. Many of these events benefit the local community. Taste of Pinellas benefits All Children's Hospital, and the Hurricane Classic Boat Races benefit the Pinellas Association for Retarded Citizens.

Please do not let one bad experience keep you from coming back and enjoying events in downtown St. Petersburg.
-- Richard D. Haerther, St. Petersburg

A rewarding occasion

Oh, what an inspirational and patriotic experience we all had at the Americas' Sail 2002 event in St. Petersburg! We folks from Polk County (as well as many counties) want to thank all the many organizers, volunteers and workers who made this occasion such a rewarding one. Just seeing those magnificent ships in port and experiencing the thrill of getting on board made us realize how fortunate we all are to live in America.

It took many months of planning to turn out such a beautiful and successful event. St. Petersburg is no longer "a sleepy, 'old-folks' town" but one that offers so much diversity to everyone.

Thanks a million. We'll be back next year!
-- Mrs. Cary Fisher, Lake Alfred

Don't let naysayers deter future plans

Here are some positive thoughts to counteract what seems to be the general negative disgruntlement from many who attended the tall ships festival.

I'm wondering if I attended the same event. On Saturday, my husband and I parked on Central Avenue in the Jannus Landing area at about 10:30 a.m. (no charge, no hassles) and walked to the event site. A surprisingly quick-moving ticket line got us into the site in about 20 minutes. Because of all the media hype, we already knew there would be far too many people there to board any of the ships, so we settled for a stroll on the floating docks, marveling at the ships, the activity on the water, and the colorful costumed characters. We were pleased that the ships were not roped off and we were able to get as close as we pleased to photograph and examine.

A festival atmosphere prevailed. Yes, it was hot. Newsflash: It was June in Florida! The misters were appreciated, but those who are bothered by the heat should prepare accordingly. And anyone who has attended any sort of event downtown shouldn't be surprised by the crowds, the lack of parking, and food and drink tickets. St. Petersburg shouldn't let the mumblings of a few naysayers deter efforts to bring more events of this caliber to our city.

P.S. Consider the important role Albert Whitted Airport played in this event and take it into consideration when you're discussing future plans for the waterfront.
-- Sharon Henry, St. Petersburg

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