The Tall Ships won’t be back for years, but the schooners are coming this weekend.

We recently reported that the Tacoma Waterfront Association, awash in more than $400,000 of debt from its last Tall Ships festival in 2008, decided to forgo trying to bring the big boats back to Tacoma in 2011.

Instead, the group will aim for drawing that once-every-three-years festival back in 2014. In the meantime, the nonprofit group announced it would continue working to keep Tacoma on the maritime map by organizing a series of smaller events.

One of those events — dubbed the Schooner Rendezvous — will take place this weekend, when more than a dozen schooners will be moored at the Foss Waterway Seaport.

Here’s how TWA’s website description of what’s in store:
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