Tag: embarcadero

Star of India’s restored figurehead rises!

History was made today in San Diego!

Star of India’s beautifully restored figurehead made its debut during the 159th birthday celebration of the historic ship!

The Greek Muse Euterpe emerged from the hold of Star of India, raised by a ship’s rope to the main deck. The graceful Muse of music and lyric poetry was shining like new. Applause broke out as a throng of Maritime Museum of San Diego members and visitors ate birthday cake and watched.

Then came the selfies! It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be right up close to the classic ship’s figurehead.

In the coming days, museum volunteers will mount the restored figurehead to the bow of the historic Star of India, oldest active sailing ship in the world.

The restoration effort required over a thousand hours of careful work. To see photos I took earlier this year of the restoration in progress, click here!

UPDATE!

Two days later, George Sutherland, who has been in charge of restoring the historic figurehead, was applying epoxy in preparation for Euterpe’s return to the tall ship’s bow.

Water is an enemy of wood, so George was applying the epoxy very carefully, in such a way that water would not intrude and pool where it could do damage.

UPDATE!

The next Sunday, Euterpe was returned to her proper place–at the head of Star of India!

I missed the operation, but I saw her on Monday and took this pic…

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Star of India’s restored figurehead to be unveiled!

For a long while, Star of India has been without her figurehead. That’s because the wooden figurehead, depicting Greek Muse Euterpe, has been undergoing badly needed restoration.

But now the work is completed! Euterpe will once again take her accustomed place on the bow of her historic ship!

There will be a public unveiling of the restored figurehead this coming Sunday, November 13. The big event coincides with Star of India’s 159th birthday. Check out the next photograph for details.

Yesterday I took a sneak peek of the completed project down in the hold of Star of India where the restoration work took place.

Euterpe is now flawless, bright, and absolutely beautiful!

But you’ll have to go see this Sunday for yourself!

You can learn more about this historic figurehead restoration, and see photos of the work in progress, by clicking here!

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Navy ship arrives downtown for Fleet Week!

Fleet Week San Diego is just about here. Many activities begin this weekend, and some are open to the general public!

I was walking along downtown’s Embarcadero yesterday when I saw a huge U. S. Navy ship, accompanied by two tugboats, gliding up to Broadway Pier. A small crowd had already gathered to watch it dock beside the Port Pavilion.

I believe this is the USS Montgomery (LCS-8), an Independence-class littoral combat ship. It’s unusual design includes a trimaran hull, which allows it to operate is more shallow water. The USS Montgomery is based here in San Diego.

Check out the photo of sailors tying up this huge, high-tech vessel with . . . mere ropes! (Whenever I see a gigantic billion dollar cruise ship relying on ropes, too, it always strikes me as a bit funny.)

The general public can go on free tours of this Navy ship this Friday through Sunday. See the details here!

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Lots of activity on San Diego’s waterfront!

Right now there is a whole lot of construction activity along downtown San Diego’s waterfront.

Today, during a walk along the Embarcadero, anyone could observe new buildings rising, an aircraft carrier’s hull being inspected, a cruise ship pier being reinforced, and an iconic San Diego landmark being painted!

First up, check out how quickly the buildings of the Research and Development District (RaDD) are rising!

The five new bayfront buildings will be grouped around the U.S. Navy Region Southwest Headquarters building, which itself was completed two years ago.

I learned from a USS Midway Museum volunteer that the Midway’s hull is inspected and cleaned every year.

The extensive operation consumes a substantial part of the aircraft carrier museum’s budget.

There are numerous sealed inlets in the enormous ship’s hull where saltwater from San Diego Bay might invade. There is also algae and other marine growth to be removed below the waterline. It’s part of a vital hull preservation program.

As I approached the B Street Pier today, home of the Cruise Ship Terminal, I observed a huge drill and other ponderous machinery.

I’ve learned the structural stability of the pier is being improved.

The Port of San Diego project is technically described as curtain wall repairs and backfilling. Don’t ask me exactly what that means!

Lastly, the landmark 1938 County Administration Building’s new paint job continues.

The sections that have been finished look great!

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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Tar, varnish and paint on San Diego Bay!

Have you read those classic nautical stories where sailors are tasked with tarring ropes in a ship’s rigging?

Well, if you visited the Maritime Museum of San Diego today, you might have seen this age-old activity in practice. A museum volunteer was tarring the shrouds of Californian, official tall ship of California!

As I walked about the museum’s historic ships, I noticed the forward hatch of the 1904 steam yacht Medea had been recently varnished. And another volunteer was busy applying the second of three coats of paint to the railing of the San Diego harbor’s 1914 Pilot boat!

Even in calm San Diego Bay, the daily weather, salt and sun slowly ravage ships. The sun’s ultraviolet rays eventually break down everything, even tar. To maintain the beautiful vessels of a world-famous maritime museum requires elbow grease!

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

World’s largest single-masted yacht returns!

The world’s largest single-masted yacht has returned to San Diego!

The M5, originally called the Mirabella V, is now docked on the Embarcadero near the Maritime Museum of San Diego. You can find it directly across from the County Administration Building.

I spotted the towering mast while walking nearby, so I had to go take a look. That mind-blowing mast, over 290 feet high, is visible from many streets downtown!

I first saw the M5 in San Diego eight years ago behind the convention center and blogged about it here. Read that old blog post (including its comments) to learn more about this incredible sailboat.

It took these photographs this morning. It’s hard to depict the staggering size of this sloop-rigged super yacht. Suffice it to say, the mast rises higher than many downtown San Diego buildings!

You can see the mast from the other side of the County Administration Building in the next photo. (The exterior of the historic building is being painted.)

UPDATE!

The first weekend of October I noticed the M5 had moved to a spot behind the San Diego Convention Center–where I first saw it eight years ago…

Yes, it’s enormous!

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You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

A sunny Labor Day walk along the Embarcadero.

Please enjoy photographs taken today of a sunny Labor Day walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero.

Labor Day usually draws huge crowds to the waterfront. But this year the boardwalk was relatively uncrowded. I suppose the heat wave might have something to do with that, plus the fact the Embarcadero had no big Labor Day events scheduled this year.

I began with a visit to the Maritime Museum of San Diego. I then walked south to the pier at Embarcadero Marina Park South…

A sunlit sailboat on San Diego Bay, seen through the rigging of famous tall ship Star of India.

These guys were “learning the ropes” aboard Star of India. Sailors handling complicated tall ships have much to learn and remember.

Across Harbor Drive, the exterior of the County Administration Building is receiving a new paint job.

Inside the passenger deck of the Maritime Museum’s historic steam ferry Berkeley, a new drink called Aguas Frescas was being promoted by Minute Maid. Thirsty from the heat outside, I greedily guzzled two!

Walking south along the boardwalk past Portside Pier. It appears many others were also thirsty for refreshment.

Pollution Control Vessel Seaward Endeavor docked at the San Diego Cruise Ship Terminal. A multi-function ship for charter recently acquired by Hornblower, Seaward Endeavor was originally commissioned in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

People wait in line to board either the Coronado ferry or a San Diego harbor cruise–I didn’t pay close enough attention.

A Flagship harbor cruise heads out into the bay past USS Midway.

In the distance, docked at North Island, I see two active aircraft carriers: the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Carl Vinson.

A young audience is captivated by the singing of friendly street musician Gary Reid.

Lots of vendors were set up for Labor Day near the USS Midway Museum.

All sorts of wares are displayed on tables along the boardwalk.

An artist had painted San Diego landmark statue Embracing Peace, often referred to as The Kiss.

A churro and esquites vendor pushes his food cart into place.

Embracing Peace, a sculpture based on an iconic 1945 photograph taken in Times Square at the end of World War II. The huge statue by Seward Johnson was originally called Ultimate Surrender.

Looking past a bronze service member, part of the “National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military” public artwork near The Fish Market restaurant.

Some people are partying out on the water.

Beyond the USS San Diego Memorial, construction continues on one of the new RaDD (Research and Development District) buildings.

Heading past Ruocco Park and Tuna Harbor toward Seaport Village. No huge crowds this Labor Day.

Almost to Seaport Village.

Folks pose by a Seaport Village fountain surrounded by touristy shops.

They say Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, so these Autumn-themed banners at the Alamo Flag shop should be popular.

Pink flamingos and beach lounges facing the bright blue water, however, mean summer!

Passengers get ready to board a San Diego Seal Tour. They’ll drive to Shelter Island and enter the water via a boat ramp there.

Musicians play to empty tables at Seaport Village.

Continuing my leisurely walk toward the Marriott Marina.

The silvery Marriott Marquis shines as usual.

A ladder way up there! A strange photo, right?

A perfect day to skate between the San Diego Convention Center and the Rady Shell.

And a perfect day to kayak, too!

An easy (but very warm) Labor Day walk arrives at the fishing pier at Embarcadero Marina Park South.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Mystic Whaler returns to San Diego!

A very beautiful tall ship has returned to San Diego. The Mystic Whaler is visiting the Maritime Museum of San Diego prior to a little shipyard work down in the South Bay.

I snapped photos of Mystic Whaler in January, as it was making its way up to the Channel Islands, where it now takes students on educational sailing excursions.

The 110-foot, 97-ton schooner was built in Florida in 1967, and once hosted cruises at its previous base in Connecticut. That explains the Mystic name.

I was excited to see this amazing tall ship again, and my camera promptly came out, of course!

Enjoy a few new photos…

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

One last walk during Comic-Con 2022.

A pretty good crowd was walking around outside Comic-Con this Sunday mid-afternoon. The more popular offsite activations still had long lines–two hours in many cases! But some of the lesser offsites were already coming down, being dismantled, loaded back into trucks.

Comic-Con 2022 went by all too fast!

I had the energy for one more walk. Back to work tomorrow.

I hope many of you enjoyed looking at some of my photos this past week. Now I think I’ll take a few days off from blogging, to catch my breath.

But I’m sure there will be many more cool San Diego sights to come!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

First in line for Comic-Con Hall H . . .

Early this afternoon, one day before 2022 Comic-Con officially gets underway, a small line had already formed behind the San Diego Convention Center.

Yes, this line will grow and grow and grow, and a large crowd will spend the night holding coveted positions, because the legendary Hall H is where the biggest pop culture panels are held.

This year there will be panels concerning Marvel and House of the Dragon and Black Adam and The Rings of Power . . . and no doubt big celebrities, huge surprises and blockbuster revelations!

First in the Hall H line gets first pick of seats to the biggest attraction at Comic-Con, which itself is the biggest fan convention in the world.

So who is first in line this year?

Joe!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!