Ahoy, There! Tall Ships Head for S.F.

It’s been a tough sail, but there will be a gathering of tall ships--billed as the West Coast’s biggest this century--on the Fourth of July weekend in San Francisco.

This spring, the state’s troubled sesquicentennial commission canceled a planned tall ships race, the centerpiece of California’s 150th birthday party, due to lack of funds. But volunteers and private donors rallied, and now more than 20 ships are scheduled to sail into San Francisco about 1 p.m. next Saturday. Some of them will later race to Long Beach, starting July 5.

The ships, mostly cadet training vessels, are from the U.S. (including the Coast Guard’s Eagle), Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Japan and Indonesia. In San Francisco, there will be free tours of some of them 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday between Pier 27 and the Hyde Street Pier. You can also participate as crew in sails that reenact battles ($50 adults, $25 ages 12 and under), and attend a music festival and fund-raising galas. Information: telephone (415) 447-9709 (shoreside events) or (415) 331-3214 (sailing events).

On July 9, a contingent of the tall ships is to gather outside the Long Beach breakwater after the race and sail to the Seal Beach Pier. Most can be toured July 10 and 11 in the area. For details, contact the Welcome Ashore Committee at (562) 432-7560.