USS Ramage a direct hit with maritime festival-goers
New London — People began queuing up to tour the USS Ramage well before it opened to visitors Saturday morning, and they just kept on coming.
By 1 p.m., Chief Petty Officer Ira Trussell was informing those in line at Fort Trumbull State Park that they were facing a two-hour wait and might not make the cut by the time the tours of the Navy destroyer concluded for the day at 4 p.m.
Clearly, the Ramage was the main draw on the second day of the three-day Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival, which also featured a flotilla of smaller craft docked at City Pier.
The vessels had arrived Friday for the annual festival’s Parade of Sail.
“This is awesome, this is great,” Trussell said of interest in the Ramage.
He advised those he had to turn away to return Sunday, when the tours will resume. A couple who had traveled from Maine to see the destroyer said they’d think about it.
Meanwhile, at City Pier, festival-goers checked out, among other craft, the 141-foot Columbia, a racing/fishing yacht; whale boats from Mystic Seaport; the Mystic Whaler cruise ship; and the Thames River Heritage Park Water Taxi.
“We’ve had a greater variety of vessels this year and a greater variety of maritime-related exhibitors, from NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) to the Sea Scouts and virtually everything in between,” Bruce MacDonald, the festival’s chief operations officer, said.
“Without the Navy and the sub base, we couldn’t have put this festival on," he said. "They provided infrastructure — tents, tables and chairs — organized things at the base and handled the many, many tasks related to the Ramage.”
MacDonald said a performance Friday night by the Newport, R.I.-based Navy Band Northeast constituted “a world-class event on City Pier.”
The festival also featured schooners at Amistad Pier and Custom House Pier, including the Lettie G. Howard out of the South Street Seaport in New York and the Spirit of South Carolina.
Singer-songwriter Tom Callinan, who was named the first official state troubadour more than 20 years ago, provided entertainment, as did the U.S. Coast Guard Band.
During the day, the Great New London Chowder Challenge took place throughout the downtown. In a close competition, Hot Rod’s Café emerged as the winner, followed by the Naval Submarine Base Cross Hall Galley, Octane Café and the USS Ramage, MacDonald reported.
At mid-day Sunday, the 200-foot Oliver Hazard Perry is scheduled to tie up at City Pier, where students from New London, Groton and Ledyard will board before embarking on a sail training adventure that will extend until late next week in Newport.
Festival organizers worked with school officials to plan the experience.
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