Replica of Spanish Galleon Moored in New London

With six miles of lines it takes three hours to set sail aboard El Galeon, so the imperial Spanish galleon replica will be in New London for a while.

Even when it's moored, visitors can sense what it's like at sea. The hull is totally round and there's no keel, so El Galeon rolls.

"You can feel how we feel when we are sailing," said Fernando Viota Pecharroman, of the Fundacion Nao Victoria.

After El Galeon first rang its bell in 2009, she sailed from Seville to Shanghai. The ship carries cannon to fend off anybody who might think El Galeon's carrying silver to Spain, the way the treasure ships of the 16th and 17th centuries did.

"You get to see a movie in downstairs that told you about how they lived and how they worked," said 9-year-old Taylor Pivarnik said. "There's a pirate sword!"

If you have some pirate in you, or you have a little pirate or two to entertain on these hot summer days, your ship has come in.

"We chose New London because it had a blend of history and some entertainment," said Taylor's mother, Patricia Pivarnik, "and we were looking to be near the water and something close to within an hour from Stratford, so we decided to spend the day up here.