The sloops Orfeo and Alejandro in Fearful Breakers and Treacherous Shoal are based on Tall Ship Providence, where I volunteered doing maintenance for four years. I was fortunate enough to sail on a transit bringing her back home from the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, as well. Then, in July 2026, she ceased operations, and the wind went out of our sails. I have painted her from stem to stern, painting some areas twice. I have sweated and frozen on her decks for hours, in good weather and bad, but it was not until she closed that I realized how much she meant to me. There is still a pain in my heart when I think that I may never again step aboard.
I have read accounts of 19th century merchant vessels that spent weeks painting and tarring their standing rigging so they would make a good appearance when they sailed into a foreign port, or later, into the harbor at home. You can see that same love when a tall ship appears with its crew manning the yards, the sailors aloft in a glorious display of seamanship and pride. I understand it now. Tall ships are marvels of engineering, but they also foster community.
In 1976, after many years of work, Tall Ship Providence was launched and made her home in Rhode Island. After 30 uneven years, which included appearing in the 2nd and 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean movies, her owners ran out of money in 2005 and she was put into dry dock. A 2015 storm left her with a shattered mast and yards, as well as a large hole in the hull. In 2017 she was purchased by the Tall Ship Providence Foundation and, after extensive restoration work, was brought to Alexandria, Virginia in 2019.
She offered tours and cruises for several years until an inspection discovered that her mast and other spars suffered from rot. The hull, too, would need restoration before she could sail. Unable to make these repairs, and burdened by debt, she closed in July 2026.
She has been taken over by a promised new maritime museum intended for Alexandria. I hope that she sails again. Every city should have a tall ship. They connect us to our past and remind us of the daring and accomplishments of those who proceeded us. They stir the imagination of children and adults, and bring a bit of magic to our lives. If there is a tall ship near you, visit it. Take a tour, go on a cruise, make a donation. You will not be sorry.
Tall Ship Providence is a recreation of the USS Providence, one of the first vessels commissioned by the Continental Congress during the American Revolution. Originally built as a merchant vessel and named the Katy, she was refitted as a naval vessel by the colony of Rhode Island after the people there burned the British customs schooner HMS Gaspee. She was part of a raid on Nassau in the Bahamas in 1776, served as Joh Paul Jones’ first command, and was at last burned to prevent her from falling into enemy hands during the Penobscot Expedition of 1779.
