‘America’s Tall Ship’ sails into Greenport for four-day visit
When “America’s Tall Ship” sails into Greenport Harbor next week, early risers will get the first look at the towering three-masted cutter.
The U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle — a 295-foot sailing ship — is scheduled to arrive at 7:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 7, and dock at the long pier east of the North Ferry terminal.
The ship had originally been expected later that morning, with invited guests and journalists riding aboard for its entrance into Greenport Harbor. That cruise was canceled because an early tide window required the Eagle to move up its arrival, Coast Guard officials said Thursday.
For Lt. Cmdr. Kyle Clausen, the Coast Guard’s project officer for the visit, the ship’s arrival in Greenport has special meaning.
“As a native of the North Fork and a customer of The Suffolk Times, I am thrilled to be part of the team bringing this event to our community,” Mr. Clausen said.
He is chief of the inspections division for Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound, overseeing vessel and facility inspections across Long Island and Connecticut.
The Eagle will remain in Greenport through Monday, Aug. 10, and will be open for free public tours during its stay.
Saturday tours will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A Coast Guard recruiting station will also be set up on the pier throughout the visit.
The Eagle’s visit will extend beyond the waterfront.
Capt. Kristopher Ensley, the ship’s commanding officer, and other crew members will take part in a public discussion Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the North Fork Arts Center’s Sapan Greenport Theatre.
The program will feature stories from the Eagle’s summer voyage, including its Fourth of July entrance into New York Harbor and the Five Sisters Trophy race from New York to Boston. The July 9 competition against its three sister ships was the first such race since 1976, according to the Coast Guard.
Sea-shanty group Ethel’s Mermen will open and close the program. Admission is free, although a $30 donation is suggested.
More than 20 cadets will head ashore Sunday morning to help the East End Seaport Museum with a landscaping renovation project beginning at 9 a.m.
Built in Germany in 1936, the Eagle was commissioned as the Horst Wessel before the United States took possession of it as a war reparation after World War II. The Coast Guard put it into service in 1946, and it has trained cadets and officer candidates at sea ever since.
It remains the largest tall ship flying the American flag — and the only active square-rigger in U.S. government service, carrying six miles of rigging and more than 22,000 square feet of sail.
After Greenport, the Eagle heads home. The visit marks its final extended port call of the summer before the crew returns to the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., closing out a voyage built around the nation’s 250th anniversary.
