Bright new ropes and floats among lobster traps on San Diego’s Tuna Harbor pier.
Early this year I published a blog post about delightful heaps of junk on a working pier. As I recall, those heaps of junk were indeed quite delightful.
But they don’t compare with the extraordinarily awesome piles of stuff I saw today!
Very late this afternoon I took a walk along the same G Street Pier, on San Diego’s picturesque Embarcadero. Just minutes before sunset, the sunlight was beaming almost horizontally across the glittering blue water.
Here are a few things that I saw:
Late afternoon sunlight brings out some startling bright colors.
My friend Jeremy reports that lobster season is just a few weeks away, so that probably explains all the brand new, unfaded lobster-catching gear that I saw along much of the pier.
Just a delightful mess of stuff touched by slanting light beside the bay.Steel rebar, nets and tarp form interesting patterns of light and shadow.A pleasing pile of rusted metal frames of some sort.Resting on the pier, a huge cylinder-like drum used by commercial fishing boats to haul in a seine net seems to glow.Seagull flies off tall mound of fishing nets while another gull watches.White rope curled softly atop parallel shining rods of metal.Crazy ship structure lying on the pier almost conceals a fishing vessel docked in Tuna Harbor.Part of San Diego’s shining skyline rises beyond angular steel jumble.Another delightful visual tangle on the wonderfully untidy pier.Ghostly white dried material clings to stacked lobster traps.Sun-touched purple floats strung on cheerful green and yellow rope.Faded face on a crumpled protective tarp smiles happily upside down.
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Man and boy walk along Embarcadero at San Diego’s 2014 Festival of Sail.
Here’s my third blog post concerning my visit on Sunday to the Labor Day weekend 2014 Festival of Sail on San Diego’s Embarcadero. My first post concerned the brig Pilgrim; my second contained pics of the other beautiful tall ships at the first temporary floating dock just north of the San Diego Maritime Museum. Feel free to click around Cool San Diego Sights and check them out.
I pick up now where I left off last time–heading from the first floating dock to the second.
The Tole Mour takes students out to the Channel Islands as a school ship.The large topsail schooner is based out of Long Beach.Tole Mour was originally a medical vessel serving the remote Marshall Islands.A couple of young ladies on board were playing musical instruments for visitors.30 to 35 students bunk down here during their educational expeditions.
I wish I were a kid again! I remember a similar trip on a smaller vessel I took as a high school student, cruising along Alaska’s Inside Passage. I think our bunks were even narrower! But that’s a different story…
Coming up from below. Flags flap in the sunshine.Here’s the cabin where kids gather to eat and learn about the sea.A small library and a chart depicting different marine life.The very cool Tole Mour was launched in 1987.Two generations, side by side, man the helm topside.Stern of the Irving Johnson, a brigantine based in San Pedro, the port of Los Angeles.Folks at the Festival of Sail step onto the visiting tall ship.The bow faces distant Point Loma on our lovely, calm San Diego Bay.Sally has been a Los Angeles Maritime Institute crew member from the beginning–22 years!
I hope my information here is correct. I didn’t take notes. Sally just smiled as she talked about her many memories as a volunteer at the Los Angeles Maritime Institute. She started 22 years ago as a lowly volunteer sweeper. She watched the two nearly identical ships–the Irving Johnson and Exy Johnson–being built simultaneously side-by-side in a parking lot! She told me she has more than a million stories to tell! I believe her!
The ship’s twin–the Exy Johnson–is tied up on the opposite side of the dock.One more beautiful tall ship waits to be visited at this floating dock…It’s the Bill of Rights, a gaff-rigged schooner from Chula Vista, in our south bay!Dogs enjoyed visiting the cool ships, too!A big old ship’s wheel gives me a hankering for adventure on the high seas.Some festival visitors went on harbor cruises, or participated in cannon battles on the bay!This is the hub of the San Diego Maritime Museum–the Berkeley steam ferryboat.
I haven’t really covered the many ships of the San Diego Maritime Museum in my blog, apart from some dockside pictures of the Star of India, the build site of the galleon San Salvador, and a couple pics of the Pilot out on the bay. I suppose I’ll have to put the many cool ships in the museum’s collection on my list!
Inside the Berkeley a family watches a hobbyist create a tiny ship model.People walk out on the Dolphin, the world’s deepest diving submarine.Stepping out onto a narrow dock on the north side of the Berkeley and gazing across the water.The graceful Patricia Belle, from Mexico, is tied up next to the steam yacht Medea.Passing under a lifeboat, heading to the large dock jutting from the rear of the Berkeley.Turning around. A huge collection of ships that you could tour all day!
I’m standing near the stern of America, a modern replica of the ship that won the original America’s Cup. The boats docked side-by-side along the Berkeley are, left to right, the Jada, Patricia Belle and Medea.
Two America’s Cup boats and tall ships America and Californian are based back here!
San Diegans often see the sleek Stars and Stripes and the Abracadabra out racing on the big bay. The two participated in somewhat more recent America’s Cup competitions. I have no photos here, but I should in the future! My camera’s memory card was almost full!
The Exy Johnson sails out to be followed by the Californian, in the foreground.Pic taken moments after the mainland battery fired a cannon!
The gun produced a huge blinding flash! I couldn’t capture it, because my fingers were firmly pressed into my ears!
While cannon is cleaned, the Exy Johnson and Californian begin a duel on the bay!
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People arrive at San Diego’s 2014 Festival of Sail on the Embarcadero.
I began a description of the 2014 Festival of Sail in the previous blog post, where I showed photos of the brig Pilgrim docked on San Diego’s Embarcadero. The big Labor Day weekend event features 21 different vessels, so now I’ll provide a quick tour of the other beautiful tall ships that can be seen on sparkling San Diego Bay! I have so many pics that I’ve broken them up into two separate parts.
The sails of the historic Star of India rise beyond a kettle corn sign!The many ships of the San Diego Maritime Museum took part, including HMS Surprise.
You might remember having seen HMS Surprise in the Academy Award winning movie Master and Commander, starring Russell Crowe!
One of several pirates walking about the annual event, thrilling lots of kids.Three temporary floating docks are surrounded by visiting tall ships.
The nearest ship is the Pilgrim, a replica of the historic ship described by Richard Henry Dana in Two Years Before the Mast.
Gaff-rigged schooner Spirit of Dana Point was tied up next to the Pilgrim.Early morning festival visitors check out the Spirit of Dana Point.One of several photographers looking for cool shots on the beautiful ships.This large bell was donated by famous actor John Wayne from his own ranch!
That is one loud bell!
Ship’s compass is another typical nautical sight.Looking across the picturesque deck of the Spirit of Dana Point.Golden female figurehead gazes out across San Diego Bay.Three-masted schooner American Pride awaits across the dock.American Pride and paddleboarder seen from bayside walkway.View of American Pride’s elegant stern from nearby Curlew.Photographer on American Pride takes aim at a cannon!American Pride, built in 1941, calls Long Beach home.People prepare to board the small staysail schooner CurlewThis sailing ship won many East Coast races in the 1920’s and 1930’s.Visitors check out the beautiful sailing vessel.Curlew served as a training ship and submarine patrol boat in World War II.Kayakers were out cruising among the assembled tall ships.The Tole Mour awaits at the second floating dock, my next stop!
Stay tuned! There’s more to come!
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Replica of Richard Henry Dana’s brig Pilgrim at the 2014 Festival of Sail!
One of the world’s most famous sailing ships has returned to San Diego after 180 years!
Well–ahem–actually, a replica of the Pilgrim, the ship that became immortal in Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s classic book Two Years Before the Mast, sailed into San Diego Bay a few days ago. It’s one of many beautiful tall ships participating in this Labor Day weekend’s 2014 Festival of Sail.
This morning I got a bunch of pics of the festival and all the amazing ships along the Embarcadero. But I decided to start off by writing a blog post about the Pilgrim, which has a warm spot in my heart.
Every so often I reread Two Years Before the Mast, when I get a hankering to revisit the true, very interesting and adventurous tale written by Dana about his difficult voyage around Cape Horn and along the mostly uninhabited California coast as a common sailor. For some reason I feel a strange kinship with the author. Whenever I enjoy the book, I always try to envision what his hardy cattle hide trading ship looked like.
Today’s replica of the brig Pilgrim began as a three-masted schooner built in 1945 in Denmark; it was then converted to a brig in 1975 in Portugal. Now it’s a floating classroom with the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, California. The ship was used in Amistad, a movie directed by Steven Spielberg. While no one knows precisely how the original Pilgrim appeared, it quite likely resembled the ship I visited this morning.
The Pilgrim became immortalized in the classic book Two Years Before the Mast.Walking down to the Pilgrim, docked among many cool sailing ships.Wooden figurehead of the Pilgrim is a representation of Richard Henry Dana Jr.
I assume the figurehead of Dana holds a scroll because he went on to become a Harvard-educated lawyer. He advocated for groundbreaking laws which protected the common sailor and made life at sea for many a bit less dangerous and unfair.
San Diego Festival of Sail includes this historic, very interesting tall ship.
Sadly, the gentleman welcoming visitors on board (not the guy pictured) apparently had never read Two Years Before the Mast. He didn’t seem to know anything about Dana’s stay in San Diego, cleaning and curing cattle hides just inside the bay at Point Loma, riding with his friend inland to the old Mission, and having memorable good times in Old Town when San Diego was in its infancy.
In the shade of a canvas sail, people from the Ocean Institute and visitors chat.Sign stresses the critical importance of correct line handling.Gazing toward the bow past ship’s bell and American flag.The Pilgrim needed a crew of twelve to fourteen seamen to man her.I was one of the first aboard, before the big Labor Day weekend crowd arrived!That fuzzy stuff is called baggywrinkle!Beyond the ship’s wheel, several tall ships are docked at the San Diego Maritime Museum.Advice from the cook–eat good hearty salt beef!
I like the passages in Two Years Before the Mast where Dana describes his difficult adjustment to the seafaring life.
The above sign includes his reaction after following the cook’s advice: “I got a huge piece of strong, cold salt beef from the cook and kept gnawing upon it until twelve o’clock. When we went on deck, I felt somewhat like a man, and could begin to learn my sea duty with considerable spirit.”
Pilgrim crew member works at a knot during San Diego’s tall ship festival.
The West Coast was a mostly desolate, seldom-visited frontier in those days long ago. It was a place of danger, difficult undertakings and true discovery. Sometimes during my easy walks around and about San Diego, I try to imagine the glorious horizons and raw natural beauty unaltered by modern development. It’s a place in time that now exists only in memory. And in great books.
Stern of the brig Pilgrim at the 2014 Festival of Sail.
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People arrive at the 2014 US Sand Sculpting Challenge and 3D Art Expo in San Diego.
Here comes one more cool blog post concerning the 2014 US Sand Sculpting Challenge and 3D Art Expo!
If you haven’t yet, please check out the SUPER AWESOME previous photos of the solo Sand Master competition at this event!
Now I’m going to cover the rest of what I saw. In addition to the incredible top international individual sand sculptors, a number of great teams also competed for fame and prizes. They started on their unique artwork today, so their creations seem in these early morning pics to have barely begun. I also enjoyed looking at many art exhibits, and a few sand sculptures dedicated to event sponsors.
The fun event on the B Street Pier was sponsored in part by Chevrolet.Teams create fantastic sand sculptures out toward the end of the pier.Many displays of art dotted the exhibition, as well as food trucks and a stage.The teams began their sculpting on Saturday, the day of my visit.This funny dude sifting sand said he hadn’t found gold yet!Teams from far and wide get started on their wonderful creations.Some of the artwork you could enjoy was really sensational!I saw the Sandcastle Man at the Imperial Beach event, too!Now that’s about as advanced as I am–a pail and shovel!These sand heaps will be two demons cast into heaven by Buddha.MakerPlace was there demonstrating their creative local facility.What a beautiful Labor Day weekend by the bay on the Embarcadero!A close look at an artist sculpting with great care.Gazing back toward downtown, adjacent to the cruise ship terminal.The live entertainment hadn’t started yet early this morning.Another sponsor, Foster Farms, had their own very cool sand sculpture!
Tomorrow I’m checking out the equally awesome Festival of Sail, so stay tuned!
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Mexican Navy training tall ship ARM Cuauhtémoc docked in San Diego Bay.
I had an unexpected adventure today!
I was just walking along San Diego’s Embarcadero late this afternoon, circling homeward after watching a movie and eating lunch at downtown’s Horton Plaza. And there it was. An absolutely gigantic three-masted tall ship docked near the cruise ship terminal!
It was the Mexican Navy’s training vessel Cuauhtémoc, built in Spain in 1982. And the few curious people who walked a short distance out onto the pier discovered they could freely board and tour the ship!
I believe the beautiful high-masted ship might be visiting for the upcoming Festival of Sail, which is to be put on by the San Diego Maritime Museum in two weeks. (Yes, I’ll attend!) Fortunately, today I had my trusty camera with me!
Free tour of the huge tall ship could be enjoyed beside cruise ship terminal.Visitors look at information sign near the Cuauhtémoc’s gangplank.On board, looking straight up the center mast.Mexican Navy officer checks the ship’s bell.Looking east across the beautiful ship from the upper deck.The Cuauhtémoc has participated in many events, exhibitions and regattas.San Diego’s tall ship America can be seen on the bay through the rigging.A view of downtown skyscrapers from the Mexican tall ship’s foredeck.A ship’s gun points out past the Broadway Pier.Sailors begin a drill by climbing the shrouds.A line of Mexican sailors ascends toward the sky.Higher they go up the enormous mast!They demonstrate a bit of fancy work with the sails.A sailor descends as American flag flies from the visiting vessel.Guests and sailors watch the proceedings with interest.A boy pretends to command the sailing ship at the wooden captain’s wheel.An officer’s cap rests atop ropes at one mast’s base.Ship’s plaque describes El Buque Escuela Cuauhtémoc.Looking west as sun falls toward distant Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier.The figurehead of Cuauhtémoc is a shining Aztec warrior.
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Fresh fish on display await customers at new dockside market.
The new Tuna Harbor Dockside Market had its grand opening on the Embarcadero this morning! The fresh seafood market, which will be open Saturdays from 8 to 1 on the pier adjacent to Tuna Harbor (between Seaport Village and the USS Midway Museum), is San Diego’s attempt to recreate Seattle’s famous Pike Place Fish Market and San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. It appeared to be a modest but very popular beginning!
There were tables and tanks of fresh fish and invertebrates caught locally by fishermen from the large fleet of boats docked nearby. The ocean off San Diego offers a bounty of healthy and sustainable food that can now be more affordably purchased by the public, direct from the source.
The catch this morning included stone crab, box crab, sea urchins, top snail, kellet’s whelks, black cod, ling cod, rock fish, sand dabs, bluefin, yellowfin, yellowtail, sheepshead and even octopus!
According to what I read on the internet, Tuna Harbor Dockside Market is the production of the San Diego Fishermen’s Working Group, which was established in 2010 to promote commercial fishing in San Diego. With the assistance of the Port of San Diego, these hard-working fishermen are adding to the vitality of an already extremely active waterfront!
A huge line of customers was still growing well before the market’s morning opening. Looks to me like they’ll need more fish!
County Supervisor Greg Cox checks out a tank full of crabs.Lots of fresh fish sold to the public on San Diego’s Embarcadero.Fisherman removes fresh catch from ice in cooler.Television reporters and San Diegans await opening of dockside market!
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San Diego recently made the news as America’s most patriotic city, according to a popular social media network. It doesn’t surprise me. San Diego has more military installations and a higher concentration of veterans than any other city in the United States.
So on the Fourth of July you might expect to see a whole lot of patriotism. You’re right!
Tonight one of the biggest firework displays in the country will take place on San Diego Bay. Right now, people are filtering into the area around the bay to claim viewing spots, have barbeques and picnics, and get themselves ready for the Big Bay Boom, until the number will reach hundreds of thousands.
This afternoon I walked around the Gaslamp and the Embarcadero. Here come some pics!
The streets of San Diego’s Gaslamp District filled with patriotic sights.Shop window in the Gaslamp filled with American flags.Friendship and brotherhood on the Embarcadero Marina Park South pier.One of many boats decked with Fourth of July bunting.The bayfront parks are crowded with tents and celebrating Americans.Thousands along San Diego Bay enjoy barbeque and play.People have claimed spots to watch tonight’s fireworks on the bay.Street performer poses with red, white and blue.Many in the crowd are wearing patriotic clothing.USS Carl Vinson, an active aircraft carrier, strung with festive colors.A display on the Embarcadero of historic diving equipment.Young man near USS Midway speaks to retired Navy diver.Just kicking back on a sunny San Diego Independence Day.The Patriot speed boat is fit for the occasion.Cool pedicab driver gives a peace sign on Fourth of July.
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The big Tony Gwynn flag flies above tall ship America at Maritime Museum.
Both before and after work today, I strolled over to the Embarcadero to take a few pics of the big, 50 foot Tony Gwynn flag. It’s been flying for a couple days from the mast of America, a tall ship owned by Next Level Sailing. America is a replica of the yacht that won the original America’s Cup.
The flag in the late afternoon was fluttering in the sea breeze and glowing brightly in the San Diego sunlight. It seemed a perfect symbol of Tony Gwynn himself. The great, always smiling Padres hitter was not only a superstar, but was like sunshine on a perfect day.
I took the first photo in the early morning, and the others in the late afternoon.
Flag is flown in memory of deceased Tony Gwynn, number 19.Tony Gwynn flag on San Diego Bay seen between Star of India masts.Star of India figurehead faces 19, uniform number of Tony Gwynn.
During my walk along the Embarcadero on June 29, I happened to notice a big Tony Gwynn Padres jersey hanging from the roof of the County Administration Building!
Tony Gwynn jersey on County Administration Building.
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Three ships of Japanese Self-Defense Force visit San Diego.
Those don’t look like cruise ships! Docked at the Cruise Ship Terminal are three visiting Japanese warships. They are participating in Dawn Blitz, a multilateral amphibious exercise. The two destroyers and big landing ship are part of the Japanese Self-Defense Force. Carefree sailboats on a sparkling blue San Diego Bay make an interesting contrast with the gray, ominous warships! Head south past the Coronado Bay Bridge and you’d see a long row of American Navy ships belonging to the Pacific Fleet.
Japanese warships docked at the Cruise Ship Terminal.
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Cool San Diego Sights! 