Sadly, my stroll along the Embarcadero today was interrupted by a terrible turn of events. That half-crazed pirate, Captain Swordfish, was out on the sidewalk near the San Diego Maritime Museum, badgering passing tourists and other innocents with his patented piratical mischief. Good grief!
Here he comes now about to draw his sword. There seems to be no escape. Isn’t ordinary pillaging and mayhem enough? Aaarrrrr, matey!
I wonder if Captain Swordfish was responsible for this, too?
Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered San Diego Bay on behalf of Spain in 1542. His flagship was a galleon named San Salvador. Today, almost 500 years later, a replica of the historic ship is being built on Spanish Landing, across from San Diego’s Lindbergh Field. The ship is coming alive with the help of hard work from San Diego Maritime Museum volunteers, and it’s scheduled to be launched next year! It will soon be another cool sight on the Embarcadero!
As you can see from this first photo, a great deal of progress has been made on the hull. The detailed San Salvador recreation will be seaworthy and will sail out onto the broad ocean! As it passes Point Loma, it will look like the ghost of Cabrillo has returned! I remember seeing the hull about a year ago when there were only four or five “ribs” visible.
The public can visit the San Salvador build site. You’ll see not only the ship, but various items of related interest, including the tools used centuries ago to construct a large galleon.
The walkway you see on the left runs the length of Spanish Landing, behind Harbor Island.
Several volunteers were working on the galleon. Colorful banners were flying in the gentle sea breeze.
Lots of interesting stuff can be found about the build site. Nobody was visiting at the moment, so this pic looks kind of empty. I was told buses full of school kids often come by on educational field trips.
This is the kind of primitive structure native San Diegans lived in at the time of Cabrillo’s “discovery” of the bay.
This friendly lady greeted me as I walked under the Harbor Drive bridge. She smiled for a photo. She told me she was working on the ship’s spars for the sails. I didn’t hear her words precisely, but I believe she’s coating them with linseed oil.
She asked if I wanted to volunteer. A guy I met later asked the same thing! They’d appreciate any help they can get!
All this wood is being used in various ways by the shipbuilders. It looks like a big lumber yard on the other side of Harbor Drive!
How did this guided missile frigate end up sitting on the ground? Why does it have a tinsel sign that spells out Seasons Greetings? Did Santa drop it like an oversized toy from the sky?
This unusual sight is often glimpsed by San Diegans motoring along Harbor Drive between downtown and Point Loma. Built right there on the ground in 1949 to train Navy recruits, today this two-thirds model of a real warship is situated at the southwest end of the redeveloped NTC Liberty Station. The landlocked “non-ship” is officially named the USS Recruit and was originally modeled after a destroyer, and commissioned as a regular Navy ship!
Nicknamed by sailors the USS Neversail, she’s become something of a San Diego landmark. And every year around Christmas she wishes passersby a happy holiday!
UPDATE!
Here are a few pics taken during a walk in late September of 2014. The USS Recruit appears to be awaiting a new coat of paint!
I walked past the USS Recruit in early March, 2015. The ship has a new paint job! Of course, I had to take more photos…
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…
And now for your entertainment: another terrifying scene!
Beware of giant octopi with a taste for canned foods! This wily octopus steals tin cans from helpless, despairing sailors, who then promptly throw themselves into watery oblivion. When you’re in the middle of the ocean in an old ship full of tin cans, what is one to do?
This cool mural adds character to the front of a small dive bar on Bankers Hill. The place’s name is Tin Can Alehouse. I’m told they serve beer exclusively in cans.
Walking recently through San Diego’s Civic Center Plaza, I enjoyed a variety of historical images and colorful designs inlaid in the central courtyard.
Check out Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s galleon the San Salvador. In 1542, the Portuguese explorer discovered San Diego Bay on behalf of Spain while searching for a mythical water route across North America.
An actual working replica of the San Salvador is being built by the San Diego Maritime Museum. One of these days I’ll walk north along the bay to Spanish Landing in order to take some pics!
Usually the huge elevator on the south side of the USS Midway Museum contains a few tables and chairs. When I walked by and took the above photo, it featured an F-4 Phantom II jet fighter that flew during the Vietnam War!
The historic USS Midway, a modern aircraft carrier converted into a museum, has become one of the most popular attractions in San Diego. It’s docked on the old Navy Pier right next to downtown. Over a million people visit the Midway each year!
Over time the museum continues to add refurbished military aircraft exhibits. The flight deck is now crowded with them, and the hangar below is filling up. The old airplanes are fixed up and painted by volunteers at Naval Air Station North Island across San Diego Bay, then brought over to the Midway on a barge and lifted onto the flight deck with a big crane. I saw this happen once years ago and it was a very cool sight!
UPDATE! I took the next photo on a sunny day the following summer…
ANOTHER UPDATE! Here come two more pics that I took in late 2014. It seems the A-4 Skyhawk is now a permanent feature on the elevator…
ANOTHER! Why not add another pic? This one was taken in early 2016…
One more UPDATE!
I stood on the pictured elevator in 2025. The area is now filled with tables. I noticed the following sign…
One of Midway’s three giant aircraft elevators that are capable of moving aircraft between the Flight Deck and Hangar Deck in 15-20 seconds. The hydraulically operated elevators have a lifting capacity of 130,000 lbs…and are large enough to accommodate two F/A-18 aircraft at a time.
The yellow ribbons along the edge of the elevator in the final photo memorialize the approximately 60,000 military personnel killed in action during the Vietnam War. The ribbons during my visit were tied all around the aircraft carrier…
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These private yachts are docked directly behind the San Diego Convention Center. Some can be really huge. Most are gorgeous. Over the years, I’ve seen a few that have helicopters or small airplanes!
I took the above photo while riding the ferry to Coronado island. The building jutting up in the background is the Omni Hotel, which stands in the Gaslamp adjacent to Petco Park.
The following pics were taken at various different times:
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