![\"Elissa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780acea-26c5-403f-b8eb-a7f01c5c61a2-ElissaSetsSailforNYC6.8.26photocreditGalvestonHistoricalFoundat.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nGalveston, TX \u2014 A piece of Texas history is on the move.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 250th birthday celebration. <\/p>\n
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Elissa Sets Sail for NYC 6.8.26. Photo credit Galveston Historical Foundation<\/p>\n
The Galveston-based ship is taking part in Sail250, an international gathering of tall ships and military vessels planned around the nation\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
For Captain Andy Ellers, the voyage is about more than getting a ship from one port to another. \u201cThere\u2019s just no bigger stage than us going into New York Harbor for the Fourth of July,\u201d Ellers said. \u201cThis will be the biggest tall ship event maybe ever in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
Map courtesy: KEYE<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
![\"ELISSA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/51028035-f4c2-43c0-85c0-a8415f6de15f-ELISSAinGreekshipyard.jpg\"\/)
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ELISSA in Greek shipyard. Photo courtesy: galvestonhistory.org<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
This summer\u2019s trip is ELISSA\u2019s first return to New York since 1986. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe repowered the ship. She\u2019s got new engines. She\u2019s got new generating sets, so we\u2019ve got electricity on board, and we\u2019re ready to go,\u201d Ellers said. \u201cThe entire rig\u2019s been overhauled. The crew\u2019s been trained.\u201d<\/p>\n
ELISSA is sailing with eight paid officers and staff members and about 34 trained volunteers, according to the Galveston Historical Foundation\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n