Photo Essay of the Merrimack River North Jetty Repairs: Sail Portsmouth 2019

One of the highlights of the summer is the Sail Portsmouth 2019 event. Sponsored by Piscatagua Maritime Commission, this year's Parade of Sail took place in the evening of Thursday August 1.Beginning at the mouth of Portsmouth Harbor at the K2R buoy, the parade traveled up the Piscatagua River passing the Whaleback Lighthouse, Wood Island life saving station, Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, Fort Constitution, the Navy Yard, under the Memorial Bridge and arriving at the NH State Pier.

The parade was lead by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle. The tall ship Eagle was joined by the Schooner Roseway and Schooner Lynx. In addition was the historic replica river barge Gundalow, a fireboat, one of the well known Portsmouth tugboats, various modern Coast Guard cutters also joined the parade. The general public was also encouraged to participate in the parade with their boats and were well represented.

A large crowd gathered at various points along the river to view the parade. Fort Constitution in New Castle was one of the better viewing locations. Although one has to get their early to secure one of the limited parking spaces. The accompanying video was filmed primarily from this location. It afforded great views of Whaleback Lighthouse, Wood Island, and the tall ships passing by the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse made for dramatic photo and filming opportunities. From this vantage point the background was not cluttered by buildings and other industrial infrastructure. It made for an excellent backdrop.

The Barque Eagle is 295 feet long and has three masts that support over 22,000 square feet of sail allowing it to reach a top speed of 17 knots. (Its diesel engine has a top speed of 10 knots in comparison.) It was built in 1936 for the German Navy but transferred to the United States at the end WWII as part of war reparations. It has a permanent crew of 57 who are assisted during training programs by young women and men entering U.S. Coast Guard Officer Candidate School.(OCS). The Eagle was open free for public tours over the weekend. Long lines for the tours formed early in the day. Cadets from the school who would be participating in a one week cruise were on board to answer questions about the ship and Coast Guard. They proved knowledgeable and enthusiast about the Coast Guard. We wish them all the success in their chosen career path.

Ships gather at the mouth of the harbor for the parade

One of the famous Portsmouth tugboats heads out to join the parade

Parade begins ...

U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle

Flyover of a Coast Guard search & rescue plane

Fire boat passing Whaleback Lighthouse

Gundalow (left) and Schooner Lynx (right)

Schooner Roseway passing the Wood Island Life Saving Station

and the Portsmouth Harbor lighthouse & Fort Constitution

The granite stonework is the post-Civil War era part of Fort Constitution

The brickwork and field stones represent the earlier pre-Civil War era part of the fort

This was once the "state-of-art" in rescue boat design, now it is a historic artifact

displayed at the Coast Guard Station

I left Fort Constitution and followed the parade of sail into Portsmouth. I got this photo of the Eagle and the old Naval Prison from my car while sitting in a traffic jam. By this point the Eagle had put up a few sails.