By MIKE PEHANICH

From the August/September 2006 Issue

Lake Magazine covers the hottest information on the Lake Michigan area.

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This summer, Tall Ships Challenge 2006 comes to several Great Lakes ports in early August. Majestic wind-powered ships will make their way from the St. Lawrence Seaway, stopping in Cleveland, Ohio, Bay City, Mich., Green Bay, Wis., and finally Chicago.

“It is spectacular to see these ships with the downtown skyscraper backdrop,” says Ann Sylvester of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s Office of Special Events. She anticipates attendance to top the estimated 1.9 million that saw Tall Ships in 2003.

The Tall Ships inspire awe both at dockside and in a full-sail parade. Along with the sheer magic of their presence, they provoke many questions. What was life like aboard such vessels? How did men of the sea survive long journeys with meager, stored provisions amid the many moods of weather and waters? What guile and devices preceded modern technology and convenience? And, above all, how did they harness the vagaries of air current to propel their ships?

Featuring 18 sailing vessels, ranging from a 15th century caravel to 19th century blockade runners and transports, Tall Ships Chicago 2006 celebrates Chicago’s past as a bustling maritime port as well as its modern lakefront, harbors, and majestic skyline.

“As a maritime port, Chicago was almost as busy as O’Hare International Airport with schooners moving out every five minutes,” says Capt. Bruce Randall. His 77-foot schooner, the Red Witch, was designed by John G. Alden, known as the Frank Lloyd Wright of boats. “World War II pretty much marked the end of the era of schooners for transport of wood and livestock and other commodities,” Randall says. “But up until then, the entire lakefront did an incredible amount of business.”

After Green Bay’s Tall Ship festival, July 27-31, the boats set out for Chicago, where festivities begin Aug. 3 with a spectacular Parade of Sail. Ships will dock at three sites: Chicago River, Navy Pier, and DuSable Harbor. While they are docked, Aug. 4-9, you can view them for free from the dock or buy a ticket ($11) for guided tours of several vessels.

The Tall Ships you’ll see include an accurate replica of the Nina, the 15th century caravel commanded by Christopher Columbus. Brazilian ship-makers built this tribute to Columbus using the same kind of tools and techniques the original ship’s builders would have used. Also on view will be Pride of Baltimore II, a square topsail schooner that is said to be the world’s only remaining replica of a Baltimore Clipper, the kind of armed privateer used by America against the powerful British navy in the War of 1812. The Royaliste, a gaff-rigged, square topsail ketch that matches specifications of an 18th century gunboat, also carries its own traveling museum of maritime artifacts covering privateers, whalers, trade and piracy.

Randall’s Red Witch , along with the ships Windy I and Windy II, will be available for day sails, private or ticketed sailing along the Chicago lakefront.

Among the tall ship headliners will be one movie star: Providence, fresh from the making of the Disney film sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. The 110-foot square topsail sloop is a replica of one of the first ships of the Continental Navy, precursor of the U.S. Navy, and the first commanded by the heroic seaman John Paul Jones. With the movie’s release just about a month before the ships arrive in Chicago, you might think of Providence as one enormous, rigged and beautiful piece of movie memorabilia. (www.tallshipschicago.net; 312/744-4306)