Tall Ships on Parade (part 1)

The Tallships Chicago event kicked off at 10:00 am on Thursday on Chicago's lakefront. Seventeen tall ships took part in the Parade of Sail on Lake Michigan from Northerly Island to North Avenue Beach.

People gather on the breakwater on North Avenue Beach to watch the Parade of Sail

Fiberglass pleasure boats and steel cargo ships dot the horizon on a normal day in Chicago, so it was great to see so many tallships sailing on the lake once again. Hundreds of these ships would come in and out of Chicago each day back in the 1800's. If you look closely at the photo below, you can see a couple of people on the bowsprit (the long pole extending from the prow of the hull).

The U.S. Brig Niagara was built in 1988 as a reconstruction of the warship aboard which Commander Oliver Hazard Perry won the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813 during the War of 1812 . (tallshpschicago.net)