Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A dozen Tall Ships are making their way to Buffalo this week. It has been over a century since that many Tall Ships visited the Queen City at the same time.
Buffalo has hosted a few of the tall ships before, but not all of them.
They will be mustered out in the lake at 2:30pm. Weather permitting, they will enter through the south entrance to the outer harbor with a parade along the outer harbor and then turning into Canalside by the 1833 Lighthouse. There will be an exchange of cannon salutes and the ships will disperse to their three docking areas.
Buffalo flagship "Spirit of Buffalo" and three other Tall Ships will be docked at Canalside. The three largest ships will be docked along Erie Street (between the Naval Park and Miss Buffalo. Five of the smaller ships (between 75 and 105 feet) will be docked at Erie Basin Marina.
"Three of the vessels are sail aways. Reservations are almost sold-out. The rest are tour attractions. People can board them by purchasing Passport vouchers HERE or at participating Wegmans locations.
Where is the best vantage point for viewing?
"If the weather is good and thunderstorms hold off, anywhere along the Outer Harbor would be a great place to watch the parade of sail," said Vogel. "Lighthouse Point would be the closest you can get to the large ships as they approach their docks." If weather is a factor, the ships will be brought directly in the North entrance; meaning the Outer Harbor would not get the view.
Stacey Vogel maintains the Lighthouse is the best place to see the Parade of Sail. "All of them will sail past it. We have 2 full sized cannons; one from Fort Niagara and we have Civil War re-enactors," she said. "Every ship that goes by will be saluted". The Lighthouse is opening at 9am and there will be a shuttle bus to accommodate the crowds. The Bike Ferry port is also within walking distance to the Lighthouse. Stacey Vogel suggests people bring chairs.
Mike Vogel says the plan for the 4th of July is to get the ships in, docked and secured by 6pm, so that "normal" Canalside 4th festivities can proceed.
What local Boaters need to know
"The last thing we want to do is interfere with boaters on the 4th of July," said Mike Vogel. "We are not closing down any of the waterways. There will be temporary restrictions for safety. The festival is a designated Marine Event of National Significance which requires a great deal of security.
During the Parade of Sail, there will be a moving safety zone around the vessels. No one will be allowed within 100 yards of the hulls. There will be an escort fleet representing yacht clubs and other boating organizations as well as a spectator fleet. There may be temporary restrictions while the ships are docking. But Vogel says once the ships are docked, waterways will be completely open again.
When the ships are docked, there will be a 25 yard safety zone around the ships.
The FAA has also temporarily restricted the airspace in the area. That means no drones.
Reminiscent of The Duck? (And Parking Suggestions)
Many Western New Yorkers remember the World's Largest Duck at Canalside at 2016. Nearly 100-thousand people came to see the Duck and it brought traffic to a standstill. Vogel said the Tall Ships could bring 125,000 people and an economic impact of 6-8 million dollars.
"Unlike the Duck event, we had a lot of transporation planning that went into this," said Vogel. We are encouraging rail-to-sail. Metro Rail will drops directly at Canalside. The NFTA is promising to put on as many trains as needed. There is an interactive map at Port of Call Buffalo.org that identifies 14,000 parking spots in the waterfront area. There are also Uber and Lyft drop off zones. Most of the parking spaces are around Key Bank Center.
Port of Call Buffalo has 870 volunteers trained for the event.
Ticket info
You can buy tickets to board the Tall Ships HERE or at participating Wegmans stores in the area. You can buy a passport for $20 and board all 12 ships. You can get on board and meet the crew. The passport gets stamped on every ship you go on.