Oops – Tall Ship won’t go under bridge after all, stopping at State Port

Next weekend “America’s Tall Ship,” the U.S. Coast Guard’s Barque Eagle, is coming to town … almost. On Wednesday, Captain Eric Jones, commander of the Eagle announced that he is not going to “house” or lower the 2,200-pound mast because of safety issues and time constraints, which will prevent the ship from sailing into downtown Wilmington’s harbor Aug. 6-8 – reports the Greater Wilmington Business Journal.

Instead, the captain has decided to dock the ship at the Port of Wilmington.

The ship’s two 147-foot tall masts cannot fit under the raised Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, which rises to 135 feet. To house and step (rise and lower) the mast the necessary 12 feet would take 12 hours. This would take away valuable time away from training the 100 Coast Guard cadets aboard, which is the Eagle’s primary mission, said Lt. Commander Chris Vargo, executive officer of Wilmington’s USCG Marine Safety Unit.

“The Eagle is coming. But, I don’t think we can accommodate public access to it,” said John Hinnant, executive director of Wilmington Downtown Inc.

Between security at the port that would require screening individual cars and the lack of funds to rent buses, getting the public to the port to see the only active commissioned sailing vessel in the U.S. maritime services, is proving to be logistically challenging.

When the Eagle sailed into Wilmington in 2003, it was required to house the mast. As a result, every 30 minutes about 125 people came aboard the ship docked downtown. In one day about 2,500 people visited the ship.

“If the Eagle were in downtown, it would be a huge economic windfall for downtown. Now that it’s not going to be in downtown, my heart’s broken,” Hinnant said.

He figures to transport that number of people to the port, he would need four 55-passenger charter buses.

“We’re exhausting all options to figure out how to get the public onto the port,” he said. He could transport the people to the port from Legion Stadium on two buses every 30 minutes from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to noon on Sunday. But it would cost about $6,000 for the weekend, he said.

With the Eagle one week away from Wilmington, it’s cutting it close to find funds from the city. City councilman Charlie Rivenbark, who represents the city on the Wilmington Downtown Inc. board, said he will raise the issue on Monday morning at the city council’s agenda briefing. But, he said, the budget is tight.

THANKS, ALLISON AND THE GWBJ
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