Another tall ship to visit Salem this summer

We really miss our tall ship Friendship, but I appreciate the National Park Service's efforts to bring visiting vessels to port. The Kalmar Nyckel's visit from Delaware during the Salem Maritime Festival was terrific. As a vessel, she provided us all with a comparason to the Friendshp - in size, mission, and history.

(I, for one, had no idea there was a 17th Century Sweedish settlement in Delaware that revolved around beaver pelts. I'm the first to admit, however, that I'm pretty Salem / Essex County centric in my historical knowledge.)

Last week, National Park Service announced the ship Peacemaker will be visiting during the Antique & Classic Boat Show at the end of August.

The 130', 400-ton Barquentine will be berthed on the historic Central Wharf (off Derby Street) from august 19 to 25. She will be open to the public for free tours August 20 to 24, 10 am to 7 pm on weekdays, and 10 am to 9 pm on the weekend during the Antique and Classic Boat Festival.

Peacemaker was originally built in 1989 in Brazil and intended as a charter vessel by a Brazilian industrialist. She was never completed, however, and in 2000 she was purchased by a community known as the Twelve Tribes. The Twelve Tribes community finished construction on the vessel, rigged her as a Barquentine, and in 2007 began sailing her as an experiment in communal living at sea.

For more information, call 978-740-1660 or visit nps.gov/sama.