NIAGARA FALLS — LEWISTON — She has traveled across the Atlantic and hosted folks named Vanderbilt and Kennedy.

    Word is that Sammy, Frank, Dean and some of their Rat Pack friends walked her decks as well.

Now, the Black Pearl, a two-masted Brigantine, will call the Lewiston Landing its harbor on summer weekends beginning July 17 and offer tourists and locals alike a chance for an historic tour like they’ve never seen before.

“We really want to bring history to life,” said Historical Association of Lewiston

President Lee Simonson. “This will let us show (people) some of the historic landmarks along the river they couldn’t otherwise see.”

The cruises will run Saturday afternoons and evenings and Sunday mornings and afternoons. They’ll depart at multiple times for a cost of $40 per person and, with just six passengers per cruise, will give those who come aboard an intimate sailing experience.

“It is one of the most historic vessels on the East Coast,” Captain Nic Alexander said.

Alexander, his wife, Amanda, who is also a captain, and their children crew the ship which is 73 feet long and has masts that soar 70 feet in the air. It was built in 1948 in Wickford, R.I.

It was sailed by a Vanderbilt heir to Europe and then converted into a training ship for the American Sail Training School. The school is known worldwide for preparing young sailors for the sea, especially on tall ships like the Black Pearl.

“An old sailor once told me tall ships always made men out of boys,” Alexander said with a chuckle.

For the Alexander family, restoring the Black Pearl has been a labor of love. The half-brig, half-schooner vessel was in bad shape when they first purchased it.

“We drove up to Connecticut (where the ship was dry docked) every weekend for a year,” Alexander said. “And that was just the time it took to repair the hull (to make the vessel seaworthy).”

With a home harbor in Olcott, the Black Pearl is one of two ships the Alexanders own and operate as cruise vessels. The other is a restored 1936 schooner.  

“We’re just into big, old wooden boats,” Alexander said. “And we charter, that’s what we do. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a labor of love.”

Sunday was supposed to be the historical cruises shakedown run. Simonson and a group of volunteers who will provide commentary on the tours were looking forward to a chance to get their sea legs.

However, Mother Nature failed to cooperate and the Black Pearl had to stay docked because of high winds. Neither Simonson nor Alexander were deterred though.

“We’ll get out there and people will have a great time,” Alexander promised.

Tickets for the tours are available for purchase at the Silo Restaurant, just above the Lewiston Landing dock. The cruises also will serve as a major fundraiser for the historical association.

Contact reporter Rick Pfeiffer

at  282-2311, ext. 2252.