Tall Ship Friends Good Will Sunset Cruise & Fireworks Opportunity!
Nation’s Cup week September 13-18, 2011 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin is a waterfront celebration! Featuring sixty world-class sailors from fifteen countries. Come and experience why Sheboygan’s US Sailing Center, one of four US Olympic training centers in the nation, brings some of the most competitive and highest quality sailing in the world to the shores of Lake Michigan.
Being on the water is one of the most exhilarating experiences of a lifetime, and for a five hundred dollar donation to Sail Sheboygan Ltd., you and a guest can share a truly unique experience aboard the Tall Ship Friends Good Will with a spectacular sunset cruise on Saturday, September 17th along with an opportunity to view that evenings’ fireworks on the water from the beauty of Lake Michigan.
Spaces are limited to only fourteen couples, so call Torri today at (920) 629-9640 for more information and to guarantee your reservation! You can also reserve your spot online.
Sheboygan is the ‘Spirit on the Lake,’ and the essence of Lake Michigan is play time! Sail Sheboygan, Ltd. is a qualified 501(c)(3) charitable organization under IRS regulations, and donations are tax-deductible as provided by law.
About The Tall Ship Friends Good Will
The dramatic story of Friends Good Will speaks to the history of commerce in the early 1800s, as well as her role in the War of 1812. Stand at her bow, feel the wind on your face, hear the crack of her billowing sails and her 6- pound pivot cannon. Do more than imagine how seaman felt as they set sail for uncharted courses – experience it for yourself.
The original Friends Good Will was built in Michigan at River Rouge in 1810 as a merchant vessel. In the summer of 1812, she was chartered by the federal government to take military supplies to Fort Dearborn, a small military and trading post at what is now Chicago.
She was returning with furs and skins when she was lured into the harbor of Mackinac Island. The British, having taken the island just days before, were flying false colors above the fort ramparts. The British confiscated the vessel, cargo, and crew, renaming her Little Belt. She was armed, taken into service, and fought with the Royal Navy until September of 1813, when she was recaptured by United States Commodore Oliver Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie. Within an hour after the great guns fell silent, Commodore Perry mentioned her in his now famous dispatch, “We have met the enemy and they are ours: Two Ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.” That sloop was Friends Good Will.
Friends Good Will then served in the United States Navy, transporting General William Henry Harrison’s troops across Lake Erie in the successful invasion of Southern Ontario. She was driven ashore in a storm south of Buffalo in December 1813. In early January 1814, during efforts to re-launch the ship, the British unceremoniously burned the once-proud vessel during a raid on Buffalo.
On August 29, 2004 the second incarnation of Friends Good Will departed from the ship yard of Scarano Boatbuilding, Inc. in Albany, New York for South Haven, Michigan. She now comes to Sheboygan, Wisconsin for your opportunity to experience her storied history.
