This bronze sculpture can be found near the Shelter Island public pier, on the other side of the children’s playground. It’s called Bubble Bath, by artist Dan Hill. The tiny work of art is easy to miss while walking along the bay. According to the Port of San Diego website, the sculpture was erected as a memorial to a toddler.
Many of these small boats are used by people who live on San Diego Bay in sailboats and other vessels moored nearby. Beached at the dinghy landing next to Shelter Island’s boat ramp, many appear weathered and sun-faded…but quite colorful!
Here are a few more pics I took on a later walk…
Wow! Santa returned to San Diego in grand fashion! He’s making his big entrance over the bay using a water jetpack! Here he comes! A huge crowd on the pier just north of Seaport Village was watching with excitement this Saturday afternoon!
Wait! That’s not just a regular, ordinary, everyday daredevil Santa Claus, but the one and only Seaport Village Surfing Santa!
Surfing Santa rises high above the awestruck crowd to wave and wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Where’s his sack of presents?
Now he’s just showing off. The jolly old guy is jetting about in a circle like a certified maniac with a ridiculously huge beard. The fish below are probably frightened out of their wits. The first time I saw Santa, I was a bit spooked, too.
This happy elf and Mrs. Claus patiently awaited old Saint Nick on the pier with a huge throng of onlookers. The reindeer must be taking the weekend off.
Here he is, larger than life! Surfing Santa! He’s boarded the pier and is making his way to Seaport Village to conduct his usual Santa Claus business.
After boarding a pedicab sleigh, Surfing Santa parades down the bayside walkway while people munching pizza look on in joy and disbelief.
This afternoon, during my Sunday walk, I was surprised to see the Rainbow Warrior, the well-known ship of the activist group Greenpeace, docked down on the Embarcadero. It seems they were visiting San Diego, and loads of people were streaming onto the ship for tours. I had my camera with me so I snapped some pics.
This first photo shows the bow of the ship. A banner proclaims Free The Arctic.
Look at all the folks in line! I saw lots of young idealists with clipboards and older hipsters in line. Several signs and displays were set up on the walkway promoting the Greenpeace mission.
Strung between the masts was a transparent banner reading OCEAN SAFE TUNA NOW. It was so large that it was visible several blocks away.
Today a 150 year old tall ship was spotted sailing in the wide Pacific Ocean off Point Loma, just beyond the historic lighthouse! Was it a ghost from the past? How is it possible?
It’s possible because San Diego’s own Star of India, the oldest active sailing ship in the world, departed from the dock today for its yearly sail!
I thought about buying a ticket for the historic event, but unfortunately I’m feeling a bit under the weather. This morning I did manage to amble down to the Embarcadero to watch and take some photos of the colorful preparations that are required for the beautiful ship to get underway.
In the first pic, you can see Maritime Museum members and some passengers gathered, getting ready to board or lend a hand.
The guy hanging from some ropes just finished decoupling electrical and other lines from the black wrought iron hull of the docked ship.
Volunteers carefully climb up into the rigging to get everything ready for the sail!
Some hardy folks were already up on the yard arms working at the rigging. Once the Star of India is pulled out of San Diego Bay, the sails are unfurled and the tall ship is completely free to run before the wind!
After a bit of work, the ramp was finally disengaged from the ship and pulled backward onto the sidewalk.
One by one the ropes holding the Star of India to the Embarcadero were cast off.
Here’s one of the two tugboats, ready to tow San Diego’s pride and joy out of the harbor. The classic figurehead of the Star will soon be facing the open sea!
Pulling away from the dock… A pair of museum volunteers look on wistfully…
The lady heads out into the bay’s deep channel… Aircraft hangars at Naval Air Station North Island can be seen on the left. Point Loma stretches in the background.
Definitely very cool!
As Halloween approaches, I’ve noticed some changes during my walks about San Diego. A few scary decorations have begun to appear here and there among houses, shops and offices. One change in particular is difficult to miss.
The Star of India has put on her tattered sails!
A spooky Star of India makes a very cool October sight on San Diego Bay. This year, visitors who experience Haunting Tales from our Seafaring Past, in addition to touring the venerable old ship, will hear ghost stories and scary legends about life at sea. Kids attending are encouraged to dress in costume. In the days ahead, I’ll probably see a lot of pint-sized pirates shuffling along the Embarcadero!
The Star of India, owned by the San Diego Maritime Museum, recently turned 150 years old. The world’s oldest active sailing ship, she was originally named Euterpe, after the Greek muse of music and poetry. During her lifetime she’s made 21 circumnavigations of the globe, and has hauled cargo, emigrants and even fish in Alaska. Various people have died on board, including her first captain, and there have been reports of ghostly sightings. Some visitors say they feel the touch of a cold hand when they stand near the mast where a young sailor, a stowaway, fell from the rigging to his death in 1884. Step aboard if you dare!
UPDATE!
Here come a few more pics from October 2014…
This large statue is amazingly popular with tourists visiting San Diego’s Embarcadero. Tour buses park in the nearby parking lot and throngs of people stand beneath the kissing sailor and nurse, snapping photos. Many couples joyfully imitate the dramatic pose. Critics say the statue is too kitsch, but I disagree! It perfectly represents a moment in time: the end of the Second World War.
Referred to by many as The Kiss, this huge sculpture was created by the artist Seward Johnson. Its proper name is Unconditional Surrender. It’s based on a photograph taken during V-J day in New York’s Times Square. An American sailor, overjoyed at the news of the war’s end, grabbed a random nurse nearby and gave her a spontaneous kiss. The photograph became world famous.
A temporary Unconditional Surrender statue was originally placed at this site, but it was replaced with a permanent bronze version in 2012. Unlike most other monuments and memorials located on the Greatest Generation Walk, just south of the USS Midway, this statue is so enormous it can be glimpsed from several points on San Diego Bay.
This photo shows sailboats on San Diego Bay passing the Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel, those two tall, sandy tan buildings.
Tour guides and pedicab drivers often joke that the downtown skyline resembles a set of tools. The Hyatt buildings resemble straight-edge screwdrivers; America Plaza, which you can see, resembles a phillips screwdriver; and another skyscraper, Emerald Plaza (not visible in this pic) resembles a set of socket wrenches!
Here’s a pic of a non-sailboat taken on a later occasion…
Embarcadero Marina Park North was overrun today with hundreds of cool cars and custom hot rods, and I’ve got some pics to prove it! The event was called Mustangs by the Bay, put on by the The Mustang Club of San Diego. Lots of people were just chillin’ for the weekend, checking out all the different cars. It was the perfect spot to enjoy barbeque served by Boy Scouts, classic oldies music, and awesome views of downtown, Seaport Village and beautiful San Diego Bay.
That big aircraft carrier with the number 76 is the Ronald Reagan, docked at North Island.
I checked out that gray ship docked at the pier just north of Seaport Village. It appears to have been a Navy ship, but its number has been removed; I don’t have a clue what it’s used for.
I saw lots of cool artwork!
Another really cool boat on San Diego Bay is the Maritime Museum’s 1914 wooden pilot boat. Appropriately named Pilot, she served as San Diego’s main pilot boat for 82 years! Over the decades, thousands of commercial ships entered and departed the bay with her navigational assistance.
During World War II, she was used as a patrol boat by the Coast Guard. She was (and remains) decorated with 6 six-month service chevrons.
When you purchase admission to the Maritime Museum (home of the Star of India and other historic ships), you can pay a little extra and ride the Pilot for a short harbor tour. It’s a lot of fun and definitely well worth it!
Here are three more photos I took in 2016!
The first few shots were taken when this blog was relatively new. I had no idea my blog would grow to the extent is has. You might notice I now spend a little more time and effort with my photographs!
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This blog has grown tremendously over three years and now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
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