chief duty to get these ships."
the Tall Ships by Frank 0. Braynard The search for the tall ships that came to America for Operation Sail in 1976 was a five-year effort. As General Manager of the project it was my first and chief duty to get these ships. The trips that! made took me to many parts of the world. These sketches were made on these trips in my leisure moments, interspaced with meetings with government officials, private maritime leaders and sail training people. My wife Doris and I went together to most of the homeports of the world's sai l training ships. We went in 1972 to Germany and in 1974 to England and the next year to Japan. In the early days of Operation Sail our private sponsoring committee had no money to pay for such trips. I combined them with vacations. Since time was of the essence on most of these visits, I sketched what I could, when I could. Quick impression sketches were made from the decks of the magnificent four-master Kruzenshtern, owned by the Soviets and used to train officers for their worldwide fisheries. In 1974 while visiting Gdynia during their Operation Sail I was given permission to sail out on this vessel to see the sail training ships make their grand entrance into that famous Baltic port of Poland. Some weeks later I again sailed upon Kruzenshtern out of Portsmouth, and several dozen sketches resulted. They show the sail training ship review sponsored by the Sail Training Association, in Cowes. The Russian ship went on to St. Malo, France, and I sailed with her, pen in hand. These two trips were most important in the overall scheme of things aside from being fascinating experiences. Because of the lack of money, I found it necessary to "thumb my way" by cruise liner on several occasions. The newly established Royal Viking Line, a combine of three ancient and honorable Norse shipping companies, offered to take me as a guest ifl would give what they called "enrichment lectures." Nothing could have been more pleasant, because I was encouraged to talk on my favorite subject on these trips: ships. I talked about famous ocean liners like the Leviathan, and about the South Street Seaport Museum in Manhattan, and about the elegant steamship Savannah, first to cross any ocean with steam, and also about her namesake, the nuclear passenger-cargo liner. Needless to say, I also gave lectures about Operation Sail 1976, reviewing my first such project, the one held in New York in 1964 in connection with the World 's Fair. I brought along movies to show with my talks. On the six cruises that Doris and I have made with this company we made u, many warm friends among the passengers.
Ship models, old leather furniture and slow waiters all add to the atmosphere of the 16th Century Shippers Guild House restaurant in Lubreck. In 1972 the author had two three-hour meals here while planning how to convince the tall ships docked just down the street to come to New York in 1976.
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The beautiful full-rigger Christian Radich, one of the tall ships of Norway, went through the St. Lawrence Seaway far into the heart of America after the Operation Sail festivities. Below, the author's home away from home, Royal Viking Sea carried him to Europe and the Far East in his quest for tall ships.
Mr. Braynard, moving spirit of Operation Sail 1964 and General Manager of Operation Sail 1976, was a founder of the National Maritime Historical Society and is today Chairman of the NMHS Advisory Council. NoTE: This account is adaptedfrom the author's book, Search for the Tall Ships; A Sketchbook of the Ships that Came to Operation Sail 1976 (New York, 1977). Copies are available for $25 postpaid from the author, 98 Dubois Avenue, Sea Cliff NY 11579.
SEA HISTORY 52, WINTER 1989-90
47