El Galeon Andalucia sets sail for Ocean, City, Maryland to kick off the Sail to Sunny Fort Lauderdale 16th Century Ship Tour

OCEAN CITY -- The Spanish tall ship El Galeon Andalucia will be sailing into Ocean City on August 1st, for it’s first port-of-call on a five-month tour of East Coast.  The ship will make nine ports-of-call in five states on it’s Sail to Sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida where it will be featured in the nationally televised Winterfest Boat Parade on December 13^th.

     The 170-foot long,  500 ton ship is the only Galeon class vessel sailing today.  Five of the seven decks will be available for the public to tour. It carries an all Spanish crew of 25 sailors, several of which will welcome visitors onboard when they tour this one-of-a-kind vessel.

     El Galeon Andalucia is currently featured in the NBC series Crossbones starring John Malkovich as the legendary pirate Blackbeard which airs on Friday nights. After visiting Ocean City last summer, the ship spent three months in Puerto Rico where the series was filmed.

     "El Galeon will bring the spirit of discovery and exploration to over two hundred thousand visitors on its Sail to Sunny Fort Lauderdale,” said Bryan Lilley, head of the National Air, Sea & Space Foundation. “When you step onboard the ship it’s like traveling back in time 500 years to experience for yourself what it was like to explore the new World.” 

     El Galeon will spend the month of August in Ocean City, Maryland and will then make seven ports-of-call en route to Fort Lauderdale including Annapolis, MD, Morehead City, NC, Savannah, GA and Port Canaveral, FL.  The ship will also represent Spain at the Star Spangled Sailabration in Baltimore to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner.

     The Foundation will invite thousands of public school students on board El Galeon in each port to participate in the Future Explorers Education Program, part of its non-profit mission to educate youth in Air, Sea and Space. 

     “When the ship sails into a port it’s like bringing a hands on learning experience on the scale of a field trip to St. Augustine, Jamestown or Plymouth to the community,” Lilley said.  “The foundation is proud to be able to offer such an opportunity to public school students free of charge.”

     The ship will be open for public tours daily from 10 am to 6 pm in each port-of-call.  The foundation will host an evening event in each port where the public can come on board at night to see the ship. Opportunities to host private events onboard in the evenings are also available to companies and groups.

      For more information or to purchase advance tickets online at a savings of up to 25% visit www.TallShipEvent.com