Where else would Hornblower be?

There are tall ships in Vancouver's English Bay & Hornblower is there. Here I am in the afternoon, by the Cuauhtemoc.

The day dawned miserable and gray, more like this:

(Fans might recognize this from the opening scene of The Duel, courtesy of Two Evil Monks.)

Five of the ships were moored at Tall Ship island, which was a barge anchored in English Bay. We got shuttled there aboard a boat. Here is my crew, looking as if they've just been pressed. Yes, it's Vancouver in July, and they're wearing their winter parkas.

We're cruising around the island, waiting for docking space and get a grand look at the Russian ship Pallada.

Here's Hugo, aboard the Lynx:

This is Lady Washington. She is a movie star. She was HMS Interceptor in "Pirates of the Caribbean".

Guess what? Lady Washington also has cannons.

Here, Amelia is demonstrating the below-deck amenities for crew.
This is at the Vancouver Maritime Museum; we weren't able to go below on any of the vessels.

Sun came out in the afternoon, and here we are aboard the Cuauhtemoc. Hugo is, I believe, preparing to repel boarders.

A view of Tall Ship Island from the shore.

And hurrah - the sunset battle!
Here's the Lynx chasing Lady Washington. They chased each other around and fired off their cannons.

A hyper zoomed picture.

Enjoying the battle from the shore. It was unfortunately a little too far away from our viewing area and the crew were all very tired, but still - a good time was had by all.

Information about the festival and the visiting ships, and way better photos of the ships, are all here.