Ultimate Admiral Age Of Sail Fireworks

[Rule Uresti]

WildHearts catamaran sails Orange Beach, Perdido Key and Gulf Shores daily with cruises on our inshore waters and the Gulf of Mexico. From intimate sunset sails to fun-filled family adventures, we offer cruises to suit crowds of all shapes, sizes and styles.

This six-hour sail includes breakfast and lunch for all passengers, as well as complimentary ice water, soft drinks, and fruit platters. There is no additional charge for kayaks or paddleboards. Life jackets are always included!

An estimated 11 million spectators view the squadron each year in air shows. Throughout the life of the program, there have been 251 demonstration pilots and 35 flight leaders. Each pilot must complete 120 training flights during winter training to perform a public demonstration. Among their formations is the amazing Diamond 360 maneuver, in which the pilots will fly their planes within 18 inches of one another.

This thrilling three-hour adventure begins with a stunning sail through picturesque Perdido Pass and into the Gulf of Mexico. After spending the morning at sea, Wild Hearts will moor on Robinson Island in Orange Beach where you can spend the afternoon kayaking, paddle boarding, and sunning. You can even bring your own equipment for snorkeling. When you need a rest, recline, and relax in the shallow waters as you watch the boats come and go from the Gulf. Our drop-down staircase provides easy access from the boat to the water below, making this a great choice for adventurers of all ages.

The Kayak Adventure Sail is a three-hour sail that includes all of your kayaking and paddle boarding equipment and complimentary ice water. Soft drinks and snacks are also available onboard for purchase. Life jackets are always included!

The Family Adventure Sail is a two-hour sail that includes complimentary ice water. Soft drinks and snacks are available onboard for purchase. Of course, life jackets and corny jokes are always included!

The Morning Dolphin Cruise is a 1.5-hour sail that includes complimentary ice water. Soft drinks and snacks are available onboard for purchase. Of course, life jackets and a good time is always included!

Hop aboard one of our most popular tours to experience nature at its best. As we sail through gorgeous Gulf Coast scenery on our comfortable catamaran, keep your eyes peeled for playful dolphins swimming in the waves near our spacious viewing deck. You may even see a sea turtle! Our experienced crew knows just where to go to find our marine friends, so all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.

Set sail for a once-a-year experience with our Fireworks Sail on July 4! After we set sail at about 8 p.m., enjoy a relaxing cruise to our designated observation spot and get ready for a thrilling fireworks display.

As part of Napoleon's plans to invade the United Kingdom, the French and Spanish fleets combined to take control of the English Channel and provide the Grande Arme safe passage. The allied fleet, under the command of the French admiral, Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, sailed from the port of Cdiz in the south of Spain on 18 October 1805. They encountered the British fleet under Lord Nelson, recently assembled to meet this threat, in the Atlantic Ocean along the southwest coast of Spain, off Cape Trafalgar.

Nelson was outnumbered, with 27 British ships of the line to 33 allied ships including the largest warship in either fleet, the Spanish Santsima Trinidad. To address this imbalance, Nelson sailed his fleet directly at the allied battle line's flank, hoping to break the line into pieces. Villeneuve had worried that Nelson might attempt this tactic, but for various reasons, failed to prepare for it. The plan worked almost perfectly; Nelson's columns split the Franco-Spanish fleet in three, isolating the rear half from Villeneuve's flag aboard Bucentaure. The allied vanguard sailed off while it attempted to turn around, giving the British temporary superiority over the remainder of their fleet. In the ensuing fierce battle 20 allied ships were lost, while the British lost none.

The offensive exposed the leading British ships to intense crossfire as they approached the Franco-Spanish lines. Nelson's own HMS Victory led the front column and was almost knocked out of action. Nelson was shot by a French musketeer during the battle, and died shortly before it ended. Villeneuve was captured along with his flagship Bucentaure. He attended Nelson's funeral while a captive on parole in Britain. The senior Spanish fleet officer, Admiral Federico Gravina, escaped with the surviving third of the Franco-Spanish fleet; he died five months later of wounds sustained during the battle.

In 1805, the First French Empire, under Napoleon Bonaparte, was the dominant military land power on the European continent, while the British Royal Navy controlled the seas.[7] During the course of the war, the British imposed a naval blockade on France, which affected trade and kept the French from fully mobilising their naval resources.[8] Despite several successful evasions of the blockade by the French navy, it failed to inflict a major defeat upon the British, who were able to attack French interests at home and abroad with relative ease.[9]

When the Third Coalition declared war on France, after the short-lived Peace of Amiens, Napoleon renewed his determination to invade Britain. To allow his invasion flotilla to reach England, he needed to wrest control of the English Channel from the Royal Navy.[10]

The main French fleets were at Brest in Brittany and at Toulon on the Mediterranean coast. Other ports on the French Atlantic coast harboured smaller squadrons. France and Spain were allied, so the Spanish fleet based in Cdiz and Ferrol was also available.[11]

The British possessed an experienced and well-trained corps of naval officers.[a] By contrast, some of the best officers in the French navy had been executed or had left the service during the early part of the French Revolution.[12]

Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve had taken command of the French Mediterranean fleet following the death of Latouche Treville. There had been more competent officers, but they had either been employed elsewhere or had fallen from Napoleon's favour.[13] Villeneuve had shown a distinct reluctance for facing Nelson and the Royal Navy after the French defeat at the Battle of the Nile in 1798.[14]

Napoleon's naval plan in 1805 was for the French and Spanish fleets in the Mediterranean and Cdiz to break through the blockade and join forces in the Caribbean. They would then return, assist the fleet in Brest to emerge from the blockade, and together clear the English Channel of Royal Navy ships, ensuring a safe passage for the invasion barges.[15]

Early in 1805, Vice Admiral Lord Nelson commanded the British fleet blockading the Mediterranean port of Toulon. Unlike William Cornwallis, who maintained a close blockade off Brest with the Channel Fleet, Nelson adopted a loose blockade in hope of luring the French out to battle, saying, "to be able to get at the enemy you must let them come out to you, if you cannot get at them."[16][15] However, Villeneuve's fleet successfully evaded Nelson's when the British were blown off station by storms. Nelson commenced a search of the Mediterranean, supposing that the French intended to make for Egypt, but Villeneuve instead took his fleet through the Strait of Gibraltar, rendezvoused with the Spanish fleet in Cdiz, and sailed as planned for the Caribbean. Once Nelson realised that the French were crossing the Atlantic, he set off in pursuit.[b]

Having lured the British to the West Indies, Villeneuve returned from the Caribbean to Europe, intending to break the blockade at Brest.[14] Nelson, still in fear for Egypt, made to return to the Mediterranean. The fast sailing corvette taking word of his plans back to the admiralty spotted the French heading further north. On receiving this intelligence Lord Barham was alive to the enemy strategy and immediately ordered Admiral Cornwallis to combine his squadron with that of Vice Admiral Calder off Ferrol and to stretch out thirty to forty leagues into the Atlantic to block the French from entering the Channel.[18]

Calder intercepted the French resulting in an inconclusive engagement during the Battle of Cape Finisterre in which two of the Spanish ships were captured. Villeneuve abandoned his plan and sailed back to Ferrol in northern Spain.[19] There he received orders from Napoleon to return to Brest according to the main plan.[20]

Napoleon's invasion plans for Britain depended on having a sufficiently large number of ships of the line protecting his port of Boulogne on the English Channel. This would require Villeneuve's force of 33 ships to join Vice-Admiral Ganteaume's force of 21 ships at Brest, along with a squadron of five ships under Captain Allemand, which would have given him a combined force of 59 ships of the line.

When Villeneuve set sail from Ferrol on 10 August, he was under orders from Napoleon to sail northward toward Brest. Instead, he worried that the British were observing his manoeuvres, so on 11 August, he sailed southward towards Cdiz on the southwestern coast of Spain.[21] With no sign of Villeneuve's fleet, on 25 August, the three French army corps' invasion force near Boulogne broke camp and marched into Germany, where it was later engaged. This ended the immediate threat of invasion.[22][23]

The same month, Admiral Lord Nelson returned home to Britain after two years of duty at sea.[24] He remained ashore for 25 days and was warmly received by his countrymen.[25] Word reached Britain on 2 September about the combined French and Spanish fleet in Cdiz harbour.[26] Nelson had to wait until 15 September before his ship, HMS Victory, was ready to sail.[27]

On 15 August, Cornwallis decided to detach 20 ships of the line from the fleet guarding the English Channel to sail southward to engage the enemy forces in Spain,[28] leaving the Channel with only 11 ships of the line.[29] The detached force formed the nucleus of the British fleet at Trafalgar. This fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral Calder, reached Cdiz on 15 September. Nelson joined the fleet on 28 September to take command.[30]

3a8082e126