Page 16 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch August 23, 2013 Tall Ship Arrives In Ocean City For Short Stay By SHAWN J. SOPER NEWS EDITOR OCEAN CITY – Amid much pageantry and fanfare, the replica 16th-Century tall ship El Galeon Andalucia emerged from the earlymorning haze off the coast of Ocean City on Wednesday and traveled first through the Inlet and then narrowly through the Route 50 drawbridge before docking on 3rd Street. The El Galeon Andalucia calls St. Augustine, Fla., its home base on the Atlantic and is on a return trip from New York City to a stop in Puerto Rico, where it will work with NBC on a project. The National Air, Sea and Space Foundation Inc., which promotes tours of the ship, was looking for a pit stop along the Atlantic coast to break up the trip from New York to Puerto Rico and Board Chairman Brian Lilley, who produces the Ocean City Air Show each summer, approached resort officials about bringing El Galeon to Ocean City for a late-summer stop. El Galeon Andalucia left New York on Monday and arrived off the coast of Ocean City sometime on Tuesday. The original plan was to bring the replica tall ship through the Inlet and the drawbridge on Tuesday afternoon to its berth along the bulkhead at 3rd Street adjacent to the municipal park, but extreme low tides in and around the Inlet and back bays caused by the full moon The El Galeon Andalucia is pictured above left making its way through the Inlet on Wednesday. Above right, a crew member raises the Ocean City flag after it was presented to the ship’s captain by Mayor Rick Meehan, Councilman Doug Cymek and City Manager David Recor. Photos by Rally Rides and Howard Whaley, above left, and Shawn Soper forced its arrival back to early Wednesday morning. On Wednesday, hundreds of local residents and visitors gathered around the Inlet jetty and on docks and piers just south of the Route 50 Bridge waiting for the ship’s arrival as the El Galeon waited in the earlymorning haze just off the coast north of the pier. After a few more last-minute delays, El Galeon be- gan its passage through the Inlet with an escort by Tow Boat US, the Coast Guard, an armada of local boats of all shapes and sizes and the Ocean City Fire Boat, which shot a plume of water into the earlymorning sky. El Galeon Andalucia, shortly after 11 a.m., passed easily through the open drawbridge, although there was not much room to spare on either side, and made its way to the 3rd Street bulkhead where hundreds had gathered to celebrate its arrival. Captain Manolo Murube and the adept Spanish crew of 25 immediately began making preparations to accept their first guests. After lines were secured, portions of the barrier along the bulkhead were removSEE NEXT PAGE