Senior Captain Walter Rybka in his office at the Maritime Museum

Position: Flagship Niagara’s Senior Captain

Job description: Rybka only sails about 25 percent of the time, dedicating his work to administrative duties for the Niagara League and museum. Off-season, Rybka works to “make sure there is a next season.”

When he is onboard, Rybka jokes he’s there for quality assurance. Instead of taking over the ship, he acts as “coach,” letting the younger mates learn from doing as much as possible.

Hails from: Suburban New York City

How he got started: “Didn’t know any better,” said Rybka with a slight smile. Describing his career he said, “It’s kind of like the kid who ran away to join the circus and got away with it.” One summer during college, instead of saving for school working a lucrative job, Rybka took out a loan to pay his tuition, taking an opportunity to sail.

“I always wanted to do this kind of thing, and always thought if I could ever do it, I better drop everything and do it. And now I’ve ‘postponed’ life for 40 years.”

Turning landlubbers into sailors: “There is not so helpless and pitiable an object in the world as a landsman beginning a sailor’s life,” Rybka quotes from Richard Henry Dana’s “Two Years Before the Mast. Watching people learn is one of the most satisfying parts of the job, said Rybka; however, before they get accustomed life aboard a ship, students go through a rough process of adjustment.

“The first week they’re bewildered, uncomfortable, thinking ‘What the hell did I let myself in for?’” said Rybka, describing the process. “After the third week, they don’t want to go home.”

Tall Ships Erie: Pleased with the outcome of Tall Ships Erie 2010, the first of its kind produced in the city, Rybka said any glitches that came up were minor. “Sheer volume of people is a nice problem to have,” Rybka said regarding the lines and number of visitors the festival drew.

Looking ahead: The Battle of Lake Erie’s bicentennial comes in three years, September 13, 2010. Rybka said the recent festival was a good opportunity to work out the kinks for what will hopefully be a bigger celebration for the historic anniversary.

See the Flagship Niagara featured in They Started in Erie.

Chief Mate Billy Sabatini in a rare moment without his sunglasses

Position: Chief Mate aboard Flagship Niagara

What that means: As second in command aboard the ship, Sabatini works with the crew to make sure daily duties are performed business-as-usual.

“The captain is focused on the next port, my focus is inside the ship, daily operations, and what’s happening on deck,” said Sabatini.

Hails from: Sabatini hails from the east coast: Massachusetts. He first got his feet wet with sailing aboard the Tabor Boy at his high school, Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts.

Education: A 2005 graduate of Maine Maritime Academy, Sabatini’s degree is perfect for his job description: a major in Small Vessels Operation with a concentration in Sail Training. Sabatini is the first of his school to combine those interests.

Sabatini signs a visitor's Tall Ships Erie passport aboard the Niagara

Loves his job: Sabatini said people that go through Niagara’s sail training programs come out empowered people.

“I thoroughly enjoy watching people coming on board not knowing anything: how to eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, and they emerge as fully-empowered, able crewmembers, climbing the rigging,” said Sabatini.

Loves Erie: “Everything is so accessible. There’s so much going on all the time—there’s something for everyone,” said Sabatini, who listed Erie’s myriad sports teams and recreational activities. The shipman also happens to swing dance—when he first moved to town, he was grateful to find a thriving swing dancing community.

See the Flagship Niagara featured in They Started in Erie.

During the summer, the Niagara sails with about 17 paid crewmembers and 20-24 volunteers. However, the Niagara keeps five full-time employees all year round to ensure that Niagara stays maintained on the water and in the community, to ensure she sails for seasons to come.

Niagara crew welcomed visitors onboard during the Tall Ships Erie festival

Here are Niagara’s five full-time employees:

Walter Rybka: Senior Captain- Rybka describes his role onboard as “relief captain,” only getting to sail about 25 percent of the time. This highly experienced sailor coaches the younger mates to do as much as possible, to gain their own experience. Rybka works with Niagara’s administrative needs.

Wesley Heerssen: Captain- The ship’s captain is always looking towards the next port, and Heerssen often deals with planning and administration.

Billy Sabatini: Chief Mate- Focused with the crew and activities onboard the ship, Sabatini often helps the ship’s captain, but also manages Niagara’s winter maintenance.

Pat Crosby: 4th Mate/Carpenter/Engineer- This indispensable crewmember makes sure Niagara runs smoothly, stays free of leaks, and ensures Niagara stays well-maintained.

Rob Aspinwal: Boatswain- Aspinwal works in the Niagara’s “Tar Pit,” the work area inside the museum so-called for the tar-covered lines maintained there. He maintains the ship’s rigging.

See the Flagship Niagara featured in They Started in Erie.

Vacationing couple from Sunbury, PA

A few highlights:

Good time for a vacation

A couple from Sunbury, PA took the four-hour drive west to Erie for the weekend, instead of vacationing on Maryland’s coast.

Why Erie? More to do, inexpensively, with nice people.

“There’s so much to do in Erie,” said the Sunbury woman. “In Maryland, you just have the boardwalk, and then nothing else, but here you have wine tours, the lake, and ships! And the people are just so nice.”

In town to vacation, they heard Tall Ships Erie was the weekend’s must-do event and stopped by to check it out.

The Lake Erie Pirahna's Cardboard Regatta team

Lake Erie Piranha

Fresh from the awards ceremony at the Cardboard Boat Regatta held behind the Erie Maritime Museum, the crew from Lake Erie Piranha came to visit the GoErie photo booth.

Although this troop from Erie and Pittsburgh only had three paddlers in the boat during race time, it was a nine person “group effort” that started putting their vessel together around 9 p.m. the night before. Even though their boat came in second slowest, they seemed happy to have completed the challenge.

If you want to see videos of the Cardboard Boat Regatta, check the video player to the right of the page for the seven heats held Saturday afternoon.

Tall Guys entertained with traditional and original sea shanties

Tall Guys

The performance group, Tall Guys, came right off the main stage at the Erie Maritime Museum stage. Only formed a week ago, this group debuted their medley of traditional and original celtic and sea shanties at Tall Ships Erie.

This quintet from the greater Erie area features a wide array of instrumental talent: David Devwe on vocals and guitar, Tom Willsinson on the bodhran and shoes, Mike Hampsey on the mandolin, Don Wisniewski on the accordion, and Don Dombrowski on the dobro.

Adorable visitors to the GoErie photo booth

Too cute for words

And this duo was just too cute—I’m pretty sure this picture’s next the definition for “adorable” in the dictionary.

Tall Ships Erie lasts from 12-6 this Sunday. Day passes are available while ticket supplies last, so be sure to come down early if you want to make sure you tour a ship. Lines can become long waits—at one point lines at the HMS Bounty were taking two hours to rotate visitors through. Lines at the Niagara are the festival’s shortest—it can take aboard more people at a time since it’s a larger vessel—at 20-30 minute wait.

While you’re at the festival, come visit us at the GoErie photo booth to ensure your picture gets into our photo galleries. Before you go, make sure you check back here for the latest updates on tickets, weather, crowds, and more.

Over 70 school buses parked at the Port Authority Friday

Niagara’s Chief Mate, Billy Sabatini credits the smooth running of the thousands of kids that funneled through the ships, exhibits, and living history enactments, to the volunteers of the Tall Ships Erie’s Educational Committee and the work of Chairwoman, Mary Jane Koenig, and a near all-nighter.

Koenig said the objective was to allow each student was able to tour at least two ships, in addition to seeing the festival’s other offerings, a logistical feat made suddenly made difficult.

When two brigantines from Toronto, the Playfair and the Pathfinder, were waylaid by inclement weather, the Committee was forced to readjust the schedule, in order to stick to their goal of providing the students as rich a historical experience as they could get.

“We knew it would all work, because of our schedule–the classes would never be at the same place at the same time,” said Koenig.

Koenig, a retired teacher, has had experience with tall ships since the 90s, even sailing as a Niagara crew member from Philadelphia to Boston in 1996. She said she understands the importance of incorporating hands-on learning into a curriculum. “For some of [the students], this will be the experience of a lifetime,” said Koenig.

The Flagship Niagara League’s Linda Bolla said experiencing maritime history first hand is a great interdisciplinary lesson. “Teachers will continue to refer to their day with Tall Ships throughout the year,” said Bolla. “Maritime history provides a rich history, all the applied sciences, literature, the arts. You’ve got to know your math and science in order to sail.”

Tall Ships Erie continues through Sunday, September 12 until 6 p.m. at Dobbins Landing and the Erie Maritime Museum.

Lines are long for every ship, because so many have come down to the event. A Niagara League representative stated that everybody may not get a chance to get on board the ships they want today. “We’re going to be upfront with everybody, but we still want people to come down and enjoy what we have to offer,” said Karla Wludyga, a Niagara League board member. “Being busy is a good problem to have.”

Tall Ships will still be going on tomorrow, and Sunday day passes will still be on sale while they last.

Tall Ships organizers asked us to help let people know that if you are coming down, be sure to use any of the park-and-rides available for the event.  You will not only save yourself some frustration, but probably get into the event quicker.

All the information on the park-and-ride locations can be found here: http://tallshipserie.com/parking/

And while you are at it — bring some sun screen.  It might not be super hot — but it is very sunny.

Yesterday, I took half a day sail with the Niagara crew and a collection of local and international members of the media to inspect the lake before the Parade of Sail. The weather started to change from a friendly fall to a frightfully frigid once we got moving. But did I have a good time? Hands down, 100% yes.

Never mind that the wind was rough. Forget that the waves were larger than I or the crew had seen on Lake Erie. Who cares that I ended up looking like the Blair Witch Project in my video blogs (which you can see in the player to the right) because of all the warm layers I had to put on?

I had a blast.

I got to talk to the crew, each one important to the proper and efficient running of the ship, from the 1^st mate to the ship’s cook. In order to hoist or unfurl the sails, a ship needs an entire line of individuals pulling in time together. To the untrained eye, a ship’s rigging is a tangled web of lines. Utilized correctly these lines can help move a ship forward against harsh wind.

We definitely moved around the lake yesterday, as much as the lake moved us around.  Several of the crewmembers had to take time out below deck with upset stomachs because of the rough waves. Thankfully, one crewmember passed out pieces of ginger, which naturally settles a stomach, to those on board to make sure the rest of us stayed shipshape.

Watching the crowds gathered for the Parade of Sail onboard was such a unique experience, made even more special when we were greeted by the Erie community as we sailed back through the bay. Seeing people gathered in less-than-hospitable weather from Perry Monument to the Bayfront Convention Center was unbelievable. See if you can see your friends in our Parade of Sail photo galleries, capturing those gathered to watch the ships.

Valerie and friends aboard the Unicorn

After the sail, the crew hurried with their chores aboard the Niagara so they could attend the crew after party with the rest of the Tall Ships. I headed over to the Unicorn to see the troop of five Erie women who participated in a training sail from Macinaw Island. They stood by the ship’s side, laughing together, looking thrilled at the experience they just had.  Read Valerie Weaver’s on-ship updates at HerTimes. Check out their photo gallery, and see if they answered their big question.

Come down to the bayfont this weekend, and visit us at the GoErie photo booth—we’ll be taking pictures all weekend. Check back here to get our live Twitter updates and latest information on what’s happening.

Yesterday, I found out yours truly will be aboard the Niagara during the Parade of Sail. Luckily for you, I’ll be tweeting the entire experience, so check the Twitter feed to the right to catch the updates as they happen today.

I hope I bring enough layers for the ride, since the weather in Erie’s been feeling so fall-like since we turned that calendar page to September. Check GoErie Weather for radar throughout the day. And of course, follow our Twitter feed, @GoErieEvents, for my personal opinions on what to bring.

Need tickets? Either shop online at Tall Ships Erie, or pick them up at your nearby Country Fair gas station. Find great parking information on Tall Ships Erie before you head down to the bayfront.

Remember the weekend by purchasing a Commemorative Coverage Package from the Erie Times-News. Get four copies of the paper from Friday-Monday, as well as a free 8X10 GoErie photograph of your choice. Buy yours for $10, to the right of the page.

Check out the events schedule to plan out your weekend. Be sure to stop by the GoErie photo booth, check your picture taken at the event, and of course, say hi. Tell them Ginny sent you!

That’s a question Rachel Desimone, Quality Systems Manager at American Tinning and Galvanizing will know the answer to after her five day sail from Macinaw Island, MI back to Erie, PA in time for the Tall Ships Erie festival.

Desimone is one of six Erie women, including Valerie Weaver, Linda Stevens, Beth Zimmer, Robin Scheppner, and Claudia Thornburg, granted the opportunity to sail on the tall ship Unicorn as it comes into Erie for the this weekend’s festivities. The group flew from Erie Friday to board the Unicorn from Lake Michigan Sunday.

But this is no pleasure cruise. The Unicorn is a training vessel, and these women will be helping the crew with running the ship. Lucky for us, HerTimes contributor Valerie Weaver is keeping us updated from her Blackberry onboard. Read about her updates from the Tallship tales blog.

The coolest thing about the Unicorn? From Bridgeport, CT, this ship sails as the only tall ship in the world crewed by

One of the Unicorn's all-female crews

an all-female team. Together with non-profit Sisters Under Sail, the Unicorn holds leadership training programs for women and teenage girls. Sponsor a girl for the Unicorn’s leadership program, or find out more about their women’s program. Even whole group of girls, from youth groups to girls scouts, can participate.

Fittingly for Tall Ships Erie, Hamot Women’s Hospital sponsors the ship for the festival, and the crew plans to step off the ship sporting the women’s hospital t-shirts. Even though makeup and beauty routines will be replaced with night watches and the “high seas” of our Great Lakes, these women are sure to return with quite the story to tell.

Come see the Unicorn and the rest of the tall ships assembled for the first Tall Ships Erie event, the Parade of Sail, at the Bayfront Convention Center, Thursday from 5-7 pm. Haven’t purchased tickets yet? Get yours at Tall Ships Erie, and help support the Brig Niagara.