TALL SHIPS ARRIVAL WOWS HUB CROWDS

Sail power on parade in harbor

Dozens of historic tall ships paraded through Boston Harbor yesterday, thrilling the thousands gathered to see them with their old-fashioned sails, boisterous crews and occasional booming cannon fire.

“How can you take this for granted? We’re so lucky with everything we’re surrounded by,” said Billy Garrison, who was watching from Fan Pier yesterday.

For some, the tall ships brought back other memories.

“It’s something I used to do with my dad, looking out at boats,” said Kerrianne Connelly, who spent her birthday watching the tall ships.

“It brings back family memories of being out there,” she said.

A sea of Boston-area residents swarmed the edge of the waterfront yesterday morning and cheered whenever a new ship passed by or fired its cannons.

For Anne-Marie Kline, who volunteered at the 1992 tall ships festival, yesterday was a chance to bring her family to one of her favorite traditions.

“I had a really great time and memories,” she said of the 1992 celebration. “The city was just alive and electric.”

Kline and others said Sail Boston provides the city and region with another opportunity to come together and celebrate as one.

The 54-ship parade, the marquee event of the weeklong Sail Boston festival, began by Castle Island, winded its way past South Boston and slipped between downtown and East Boston before turning around by Charlestown. The boats hailed from all over the world, including from as far as the Cook Islands and Malta.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry said the international assembly of ships sends a powerful message of unity.

“This is, today, a statement about cooperation between nations, about a globalized world that nobody can roll back,” Kerry said. “It represents the best of what we’re trying to celebrate, nations coming together and embracing common values.”

Security was tight for the event, with police and Coast Guard boats patrolling the harbor, but authorities said the parade went off without a hitch.

STAFF PHOTOS BY NANCY LANE, TOP, LEFT AND RIGHT; PATRICK WHITTEMORE, LEFT; HERALD PHOTO BY MARK LORENZ, ABOVE SEA SPECTACLE: The tall ship Guayas, left, sails past Castle Island in South Boston yesterday. At top left, sailors stand in the rigging of the U.S. Coast Guard ship Eagle. The Custom House can be seen in the background as the Pride of Baltimore sails...

STAFF PHOTO BY NANCY LANE, RIGHT; HERALD PHOTO BY MARK LORENZ, BELOW BRIDGING ERAS: The Coast Guard ship Eagle, right, sails into Charlestown with the Zakim Bridge in the background. The tall ships filling the harbor proved to be a popular subject for cellphone photo shots.