All aboard the Lettie G. Howard, Tall Ship docks at Canalside for the weekend

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — All aboard the Lettie G. Howard! The Tall Ship set sail from Erie, Pennsylvania, and arrived in Buffalo, New York for the holiday weekend on Friday.

The 91-foot tall, 54-ton vessel docked at Canalside and was welcomed by the Spirit of Buffalo, Buffalo's Flagship, and the City of Good Neighbors.

"It's nice that they chose Buffalo to come and visit us because we have a great waterfront," said Buffalo Boat Tours owner and operator Rich Hilliman. "The tradition of tall ship sailing and these old traditional wooden ships, everybody should have the opportunity to see them," Hilliman added.

A national historic landmark and the last surviving ship of her kind, Lettie G. Howard is a wooden fishing schooner, built in 1893 in Essex, Massachusetts.

"She's over 100 feet long and over 100 years old," said Hilliman. "It's great to have a visiting schooner in town."

The ship was used to fish off the Northeast Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Captain Sam Dinsmore said today it's mainly used for sailing and training.

"As a nation, we have a lot of our maritime heritage. A lot of our infrastructure is built on shipping and we are attempting to preserve the traditional sailing skills of vessels like Lettie G. Howard," said Captain Dinsmore. "So we bring them to places like Buffalo so that we can reach more people."

Private sail tickets are sold out but you still have a chance to take a tour on Saturday and Sunday as part of activities happening this weekend at Buffalo's Waterfront.

"For our tours, you will come on board. You can sort of walk around and see the highlights of Lettie's deck layout and some of her vintage equipment," said Captain Dinsmore. "You can ask questions and interact with the crew."