A pair of tall ships sailed through Semiahmoo Bay last weekend as part of an annual maritime celebration hosted across the water in Blaine, Wash.
Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain offered tours and sailing excursions from the Drayton Harbor Marina – and the classically-masted vessels also put on a show that could be seen by residents on the Semiahmoo Peninsula.
For three hours Sunday the ships recreated an 18th century naval skirmish in the bay with real cannons and gunpowder – just no cannon balls.
The two ships, which staged their first mock sea battle in 1993, are operated by Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority and visit up to 50 ports a year on the West Coast.
Lady Washington is a full-scale replica of an 18th-century American vessel that became the first vessel to make landfall on the west coast of North America. Since its 1989 launch the 112-foot ship has racked up numerous film and TV credits, including a spot in the 2003 movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Its companion ship, Hawaiian Chieftain, is a 103-foot vessel based on early merchant ships that visited Hawaii.
