Mount Pleasant Magazine Fall 2011

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f you love being on
the water, you’ll adore the
annual Charleston Harbor Fest,
a family-friendly and tourist-
friendly celebration of all things
nautical.
Held each spring just as the oudoor
weather beckons again, Harbor
Fest offers just the right balance of
maritime elements, whether you like
to board the tall ships – classic beauties
from around the world – witness
an animated sword fight between
swashbuckling pirates or dance the
night away to the sound of the wind in
the riggings.
You’ll be able to walk the piers and
take in the salt air, view the maritime
exhibits at the interactive education
village, browse the artists’ tents and
point the children to the ever-popular
Kid Zone, where little mariners can
learn to build a model sailboat and
launch it, search for buried treasure,
don a pirate’s hat and learn to tie
nautical knots.
A tall ship is a large, traditionally-
rigged sailing vessel. It can be a
schooner, a brigantine, a barquentine,
a brig, a ketch, a sloop or a full-rigged
ship, depending on the number of
masts and the cut of the sail.
Visiting vessels are docked at the
Maritime Center piers, and anyone
who pays the price of admission has
access to them.
Spirit of South Carolina, the state’s
tall ship, is docked and available for
tours. The vessel provides educational
opportunities for young people with
programs that focus on the history,
math, science and literature of South
Carolina’s water resources. These
programs strive to develop personal
responsibility, stewardship of the
environment and a love of the sea. The
ship carries its student crew on coastal
and ocean voyages as they serve as
goodwill ambassadors to the world for
the state of South Carolina.
Spirit of South Carolina is owned
I
By Meredith ArMstrong
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NAUTICAL
Celebrating All Things
ChArlesTon hArbor FesT