Tag: sailing

Spanish galleon versus an aircraft carrier!

It’s almost New Year’s Day. It’s one of those days when we pause to think about the passing of time.

During a walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero this morning, I took these interesting photographs. They demonstrate how human technology has advanced over the course of five hundred years.

A replica of the 16th century Spanish galleon San Salvador (the ship sailed by explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo when he “discovered” San Diego Bay), built by the Maritime Museum of San Diego, was crossing the water. Just beyond were two active U.S. Navy aircraft carriers docked at NAS North Island: the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71).

So how do these very different ships compare?

The historic San Salvador galleon was about 100 feet long. The two Nimitz-class aircraft carriers have a length of 1,092 feet. That’s more than ten times the length of an old Spanish galleon.

A galleon, built primarily of wood, would have a displacement weight of about 200 tons. The gigantic, mostly steel aircraft carriers? Their displacement weight is 116,800 tons–that’s 584 times heavier!

A Spanish galleon could travel at a maximum speed of around 8 knots (under ideal wind conditions). These enormous, nuclear powered aircraft carriers can travel at a speed over 30 knots, no matter the weather, without refueling for 20–25 years!

Today technology is progressing at a mind-boggling rate. Is it possible to imagine the distant future? In another five hundred years, will an advanced civilization still need or have ocean-going ships?

Only time will tell!

Happy New Year!

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Wolves ov Odin reenact lives of Danish Vikings!

A lawn program at Balboa Park’s International Cottages today celebrated Norse history and culture. The House of Norway provided food and entertainment, and a visit from Viking explorer Leif Erikson (an actor)!

What I found most interesting, however, was a living history “encampment” on the International Cottages lawn. Costumed members of Wolves ov Odin were showing what Norse life was like in the 8th century!

Perhaps you’ve seen Wolves ov Odin at the annual Viking Festival in Vista, California. They are a group that portrays Danish Vikings that lived in the Jorvik region of present day York, UK.

As you can see, curious people converged on several tables to see and touch history.

Read the photo captions for a bit of what I learned…

Viking chain mail armor on display. I lifted one end and it was heavy! Those steel helmets in the background were heavy, too! Better a sore neck than a hole in the head!

Creating chain mail by interlocking iron rings was a long process undertaken by Viking smiths. Iron was rare and chain mail shirts were relatively rare.

A beautifully engraved but deadly Viking axe. I wish I had learned more about it.

A simple sundial made of wood, which could double as a compass to aid in Viking ocean navigation. An X marks noon–I took this photo a few minutes before the shadow lined up with it!

Making a replica Viking coin, using a length of modern steel tubing for hammering safety.

I got my own, freshly minted pewter Viking Raven Penny of Anlaf Guthfrithson!

Demonstrating a replica Oseberg Sprang Weaving Loom, a loom from the Oseberg ship, a well-preserved Viking ship discovered in 1904 in Norway.

Combing and spinning wool with a hand spindle preceded tablet weaving and making Viking clothing and ship sails!

The spindles were very simple.

It never occurred to me that Viking sails were made by weaving!

Beads were a sign of wealth among Vikings.

A smile and sample of Viking life.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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

The Art of Navigation at the Maritime Museum.

Those who are fascinated by tall ships, exploration and the evolution of technology don’t want to miss a great new exhibit at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. It’s titled the Art of Navigation.

Visitors to the exhibit learn how navigators have used maps, charts and a variety of tools to find their way across the oceans and through dangerous waters. The extensive displays include some exceptionally rare antiques. Old instruments that can be viewed include an astrolabe, backstaff, nocturnal, traverse board, chip log and reel, hand-held telescope, cross-staff, quadrant, taffrail log, navigation slate and more! These instruments might seem primitive when compared with modern technology, but ship’s captains successfully sailed around the planet with the information they provided.

Personally, I like to read nautical stories set during the Age of Sail. As I read I’ll come across the names of these instruments, and at times puzzle over their application. The descriptive Art of Navigation exhibit brings helps to bring those adventurous old stories to life!

The exhibit also includes beautiful paintings and model ships, and even a display directly related to the Maritime Museum’s famous Star of India!

The Art of Navigation is free with museum admission. As advertised, it does indeed turn intellect, math, nature and science into beauty!

Micronesian stick chart, used by the indigenous island peoples of the Pacific to navigate across great distances of open water.

Henricus Hondius. Polus Antarcticus. Map of Dutch discoveries published in Amsterdam, 1638.

Benjamin King Backstaff (also known as Davis Quadrant), Newport, Rhode Island, 1764. Used by Colonial American navigators.

Replica of 19th century chip log and reel. Used to estimate the speed of a ship through water.

Log of Euterpe, a historic ship later known as Star of India.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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

Official tall ship of California begins Sunday sail!

Californian, official tall ship of the State of California, set out today from the Maritime Museum of San Diego. Passengers aboard the schooner, a replica of a Gold Rush era revenue cutter, began another four hour Sunday sailing adventure!

I stood on the museum’s barge out on San Diego Bay as Californian’s volunteer crew prepared the tall ship to get underway. Once well out on the water, the sails would be employed, so necessary actions were performed beforehand.

At noon, when all was ready, lines were cast off and the ship moved away from the dock by using its motor.

I don’t pretend to understand the details of sailing a traditionally rigged tall ship, but I do enjoy watching the action!

If you’d like to go on one of these Tall Ship Adventures, visit the Maritime Museum of San Diego’s website here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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

Step aboard an amazing Mexican tall ship!

The amazing tall ship Cuauhtémoc is visiting San Diego and you are invited to step aboard her!

Those who walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero during the next few days will undoubtedly see the three high masts and many furled sails of Mexican Navy training vessel Cuauhtémoc.

ARM Cuauhtémoc, built in Spain in 1982, is extraordinarily beautiful. It’s now docked at the B Street Pier, across from the Cruise Ship Terminal, and the public is welcome to walk down the pier and come aboard. I was told by a friendly officer that the ship will be open to the public from 8 am to 8 pm through next Monday.

If you love tall ships (who doesn’t?) you’ve got to take advantage of this rare opportunity. (It’s been ten years since I last saw her in San Diego.)

The following photographs that I took this evening provide an idea of what you’ll find, but they really don’t do justice to the experience of being on the deck of an immense, truly spectacular tall ship!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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

Star of India’s mizzen gaff carefully descends!

Today volunteers and crew members at the Maritime Museum of San Diego undertook a complicated operation. Very carefully, they slowly removed and lowered a spar on the Star of India called the mizzen gaff.

The mizzen gaff of the historic, 161-year-old tall ship hadn’t been inspected for 15 years, and it was time for another look. The United States Coast Guard is tasked with ensuring that working ships like the Star of India remain in safe sailing condition.

I stood and watched for a long while. You can see why special care must be taken when lowering this long, heavy spar. Imagine what might happen if somehow it slipped! Many lines held by steady hands were supporting and maneuvering it, making sure a calamity could not happen.

I watched for probably half an hour, and it seemed to my eyes that little progress was made in that time. That’s how carefully the operation was conducted!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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

Star of India starts across San Diego Bay!

The world’s oldest active sailing ship, San Diego’s own legendary Star of India, is sailing this weekend! It has been five years since she headed out into the Pacific Ocean.

At 9 o’clock this morning, Maritime Museum of San Diego crew members cast off the ropes that held Star of India to the Embarcadero, and two tug boats commenced to tow her across the bay.

Once far out on the ocean, the beautiful Star would unfurl her majestic sails and become a white cloud floating on the blue. Unfortunately, nobody would see that from downtown–unless, perhaps, one could peer out into the watery distance from a high building.

Five years ago, from the end of Point Loma, I photographed the Star of India cruising out into the wide ocean. It was accompanied by other tall ships that make San Diego their home. See those photos here.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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

Preparing for the world’s most desired cruise!

The people you see in these photographs are extremely fortunate. They are the volunteer crew members of the Star of India, world’s oldest active sailing ship.

Next weekend, after a break of five years, the historic tall ship will be sailing from its home at the Maritime Museum of San Diego and out into the Pacific Ocean.

Today was the crew’s last chance to practice handling the ship before actually putting to sea–they must manipulate yards and sails very quickly and carefully. The iron-hulled Star of India, built in 1863, has no engine. And it’s a world treasure.

I stood on deck this morning, watching the crew members hard at work, feeling very envious.

A docent stood by me and we talked a bit. He gets to go out on the Star of India next weekend along with the many crew members. As he explained, the upcoming journey out of San Diego Bay is truly the world’s rarest, most desired cruise.

Want to go on that rare cruise in the future? You can volunteer at the Maritime Museum of San Diego and become a crew member!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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

Star of India crew trains for historic sail!

Crew members of San Diego’s world-famous tall ship Star of India were training today for her upcoming journey into the wide Pacific Ocean!

Accompanied by a fleet of beautiful sailboats and Maritime Museum of San Diego vessels, Star of India will sail out beyond Point Loma on November 11th and 12th, 2023, to celebrate her 160th birthday!

This morning I stood on the Embarcadero watching the sail crew hauling at lines, raising a sail, and practicing the complicated dance that is required to maneuver the world’s oldest active sailing ship. The crew will be training each Sunday up until the big weekend next month.

If you want to buy tickets for Star of India’s historic sail, go to the Maritime Museum website here.

Enjoy my photographs, taken from the nearby boardwalk…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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

Star of India readies for her November sail!

This year world-famous tall ship Star of India turns 160 years old. The last time she sailed out of San Diego Bay into the Pacific Ocean was five years ago. (To see photographs of Star of India heading out to sea in 2018, click here!)

Today I took a long walk around downtown San Diego. When I visited the Maritime Museum, I noticed work being done on the poop deck of Star of India. I learned that the Star is being readied for her upcoming November sail!

As you might imagine, the world’s oldest active sailing ship requires constant upkeep and repairs. The sun, salt and weather can be very hard on any vessel.

After climbing up to the poop deck, I watched museum volunteer Bob H. removing old varnish from the saloon’s skylight structure. In my photos you can see how the wood will then be sanded, removing an old coat of stain.

The smooth bare wood of the teak bench will be newly varnished. It will turn beautifully golden like the smaller companionway bench beside it.

A section of the pin rail on the ship’s port side is also being repaired. Part of the wood rail had to be removed to deal with rust on the standing rigging.

(Back in February, I watched as a skilled woodworker chiseled away at a section of pin rail. See those photos here!)

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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!