Up at 5AM, heading into town by 6. The ships are leaving port starting at 7AM and we plan to see them all.

Military ships went first. A huge recon or communications type ship snuck off just as we arrived to watch. The first really official parade vessel was the Ft. McHenry followed by a number of small to medium ships from US, Canada and Scandinavia. The crews lined the rails in dress uniform.
Then came the sailing ships. The Pride of Baltimore came into view in full sail as did the smaller Lady Maryland. There is just something magic about them. The larger ships disappointed a little as they didn’t deploy any of the big square sails. They were still great to watch though. Some even had the crew standing on the yardarms waving or arms swinging to live music on board. The band on the Guayas from Ecuador was clearly more accomplished than the guys from Indonesia. Certainly, there was no lack of enthusiasm on either ship!
There were cannon volleys from shipboard and return fire from the fort. There were horn blasts. Smaller ships tacked across the bay between private craft anchored to watch as the largest ships from Mexico, Chile, and Indonesia disappeared under the Key bridge.
It was worth getting up early.