Galveston, TX — A piece of Texas history is on the move.
The 1877 Tall Ship ELISSA, the Official Tall Ship of Texas, is currently making its way along the East Coast as part of a historic voyage tied to America’s 250th birthday celebration.
Elissa Sets Sail for NYC 6.8.26. Photo credit Galveston Historical Foundation
The Galveston-based ship is taking part in Sail250, an international gathering of tall ships and military vessels planned around the nation’s semiquincentennial. ELISSA is scheduled to be in New York City from July 3-7 and is expected to join fellow Class A tall ships in New York Harbor on July 4.
For Captain Andy Ellers, the voyage is about more than getting a ship from one port to another. “There’s just no bigger stage than us going into New York Harbor for the Fourth of July,” Ellers said. “This will be the biggest tall ship event maybe ever in the United States.”
Map courtesy: KEYE
ELISSA was built in 1877 in Aberdeen, Scotland, and is a three-masted, iron-hulled barque. Unlike many tall ships seen at festivals today, ELISSA is not a replica. She spent nearly 90 years carrying cargo around the world before Galveston preservationists helped rescue her from a scrapyard in Piraeus Harbor, Greece.
ELISSA in Greek shipyard. Photo courtesy: galvestonhistory.org
Today, the ship is operated by the Galveston Historical Foundation and remains a fully functional sailing vessel. The foundation says ELISSA is one of only three ships of her kind in the world still actively sailing and welcomes more than 40,000 visitors annually when home in Galveston.
This summer’s trip is ELISSA’s first return to New York since 1986.
The journey comes after major work to prepare the ship for the voyage. Ellers said the vessel recently went through its biggest haul-out and refit period in decades.
“We repowered the ship. She’s got new engines. She’s got new generating sets, so we’ve got electricity on board, and we’re ready to go,” Ellers said. “The entire rig’s been overhauled. The crew’s been trained.”
ELISSA is sailing with eight paid officers and staff members and about 34 trained volunteers, according to the Galveston Historical Foundation’s fact sheet. The ship carries 19 sails, about two miles of rope across its running rigging and lines, and measures 205 feet from stern to jibboom.