Enjoy a few photographs. They were taken today in San Diego a few minutes after sunset.
The western sky was fiery orange and red, making an incredible backdrop for Star of India, docked at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. The world-famous tall ship was strung with magical lights.
The sunset’s colors reflected brilliantly from the park’s watery fountain and a slice of San Diego Bay in the distance.
Truly awesome!
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Norwegian tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl is now docked in downtown San Diego at Broadway Pier. It will be visiting our city through Sunday.
This morning, as I walked out on the pier, I noticed crew members high in the sky, preparing a huge banner that would hang like a sail from one of the ship’s yards. I sat down on a bench and watched the action! And took some photos!
Would you dare work so high above the ship’s deck, clinging like a spider to a windswept web? I don’t think I’d have the courage! Or agility!
To the crew member who waved down at me: Hello!
The public will be able to step aboard Statsraad Lehmkuhl this Saturday, November 15, 2025, between noon and 3 pm. It’s free!
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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.
This coming Saturday, November 15, 2025, between noon and 3 pm, the public is invited to step aboard Norwegian tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl, which is currently visiting San Diego.
The large, beautiful 1914 ship with an intriguing history is docked downtown at the Broadway Pier. It arrived yesterday and will be staying in San Diego through Sunday.
Why is the three-masted barque, based in Bergen, Norway, tied up to Broadway Pier? The Statsraad Lehmkuhl is on a 12-month global voyage as ambassador for the UN Ocean Decade. Its One Ocean Expedition includes sail training, ocean science, education and diplomacy to inspire action for a sustainable ocean.
From San Diego it will sail down to Mexico, then Central and South America. According to a banner that I photographed, the Statsraad Lehmkuhl will visit a total of 26 ports on 3 continents, and travel 30,000 nautical miles!
Yesterday I took some photos from the pier to provide an idea of the tall ship’s immense size and beauty. If you’re downtown on Saturday, you might want to step aboard. It’s your possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
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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.
A lot of stuff was going on along San Diego’s Embarcadero today, this Saturday in early November!
I enjoyed another fine walk along downtown San Diego’s waterfront. Yes, the day started off gray and overcast, but in the early afternoon the sunshine would break through a bit.
During my walk I observed a whole lot of interesting activity. I’ll post my photos in the order in which they were taken. Read the captions to understand what I was seeing.
The beautiful Colombian tall ship ARC Gloria is docked in downtown San Diego at the Broadway Pier. The public can go aboard and tour it through Sunday, November 9, 2025.Some vessels were alongside the huge cruise ship Norwegian Jade, presumably fueling it.The Cruise Ship Terminal was abuzz with activity. Two ships were in!The Nieuw Amsterdam cruise ship docked in San Diego.The usual vendors along the Embarcadero.Here’s world-famous tall ship Star of India of the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
I’m a member of the Maritime Museum of San Diego. Members get free tickets for a harbor tour on the Pilot boat. That’s what I did!
Hello Kiki, our tour guide! She’s funny, informative and awesome!
Ready for the harbor tour!And away we go. That’s San Salvador, the museum’s seaworthy Spanish galleon replica.Along the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal I spotted two ships of the National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions Fleet: the Sea Bird and the Sea Lion. They tour Baja California and Alaska.Rowing along San Diego Bay, with the convention center and a couple of superyachts in the background.The San Diego Food and Wine Festival is going on this weekend at Embarcadero Marina Park North.The Tuna Harbor Dockside Market always attracts a crowd on Saturdays.Looks like the ferry is returning from Coronado.There’s the Colombian tall ship ARC Gloria, seen from the water.As the Pilot boat returned to the museum, Californian, official tall ship of California, was departing for a Saturday sail.
After the harbor tour, I headed south along the Embarcadero’s boardwalk. Here I am approaching the USS Midway Museum…
I see the pedicabs are out today.Always many vendors near the USS Midway Museum.Some characters I spotted as I walked along the Embarcadero.Now I’m on the pier near Tuna Harbor. The Tuna Harbor Dockside Market is winding down a little after noontime.A kid was helping out on fishing boat Jonny D. Fishing families are always friendly people.Some people enjoy Fish and Chips on the pier.Looking back along the pier toward downtown San Diego.I think these umbrellas at Seaport Village are new.People were given wine glasses when they checked into the Food and Wine Festival.A balloon twister and kids near Seaport Village.
Yes, San Diego is wonderful.
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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 public is invited to tour the very beautiful Colombian tall ship ARC Gloria, which is presently docked in downtown San Diego at the Broadway Pier!
The large three-masted barque is used by the Colombian Navy as a cadet training ship. It’s also the flagship of the Colombian Navy and floating goodwill ambassador. It’s currently on a tour of the west coast of North America.
Through the afternoon of Sunday, November 9, 2025, during daytime hours, anyone can freely board the amazing tall ship and walk about its decks. That’s what I did this morning, camera in hand!
A friendly salute welcomed everybody stepping from the gangplank. There are plenty of awesome photo ops. Visitors, after roaming about the ship, also have the opportunity to purchase souvenirs to remember their experience.
Take a look!
The figurehead of the ARC Gloria is a gilded, winged angel named María Salud. This figurehead is a tribute to the daughter of the sculptor who created it, Victor Gutiérrez Jiménez.
Here we go!
A shining plaque beneath the ship’s crest contains the words HIMNO BUQUE ESCULEA ARC GLORIA… MUSICA Y LETRA DE EVELIA PORTO DE MEJIA.
According to this: Evelia Porto de Mejía (1925-2013), a writer and composer from Cartagena, is renowned for her contributions to music and etiquette on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. She composed the anthem for the Gloria training ship of the Colombian National Navy, as well as several musical pieces that celebrate the traditions and culture of Cartagena.
Anyone walking the length of San Diego’s Embarcadero might have observed three very unusual sights today!
First, starting at the south end of the Embarcadero, very close to the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel, an immense NASSCO drydock has appeared!
This floating drydock, the NASSCO Builder, is usually stationed down at the NASSCO shipyard well south of here, in the vicinity of the Coronado Bay Bridge. It’s capable of containing very large ships. The public typically can’t get a close view of its immensity.
Today the NASSCO Builder was docked strangely at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal, where the Dole banana boats usually unload! Someone with the Coronado Ferry said the gigantic drydock appeared there yesterday.
The next photo was taken from Embarcadero Marina Park South…
Nearby, at the Hilton, some wise words…
Next, I noticed some guys were repairing a purse seiner net on the pier adjacent to Seaport Village. This is seldom seen. More often, these large nets are repaired across Tuna Harbor at the longer G Street Pier.
These nets are unspooled into the ocean from purse seiners in order to catch bait fish, which are in turn used for sportfishing.
Finally, I noticed that America’s Tall Ship, the United States Coast Guard training ship USCGC Eagle, has returned to San Diego! It was out on the ocean the last few days, with future Coast Guard officers aboard, transforming themselves from young “swabs” to cadets!
I went aboard the amazing Eagle last weekend and took these photos!
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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.
People in San Diego had an incredible opportunity this weekend to step aboard “America’s Tall Ship,” the USCGC Eagle, which has been docked for a few days at the B Street Pier. Visitors were invited to explore the nearly hundred-year-old, 295-foot, three-masted barque, which is used to train future United States Coast Guard officers.
I took the opportunity to come aboard the historic tall ship myself, and I captured photographs of one amazing ship!
A number of interesting banners hang around the Eagle, explaining its history and current role in training future Coast Guard officers. Eagle is the largest tall ship flying the Stars and Stripes and the only active square-rigger in U.S. government service.
I learned a new batch of prospective officers had themselves come aboard a couple days ago. This week they’ll be sailing in the nearby Pacific Ocean. When the Eagle returns to San Diego, this new group of “swabs” will be considered honest-to-goodness cadets!
I must say all of the young people who are training to become officers were extremely friendly, polite and professional. The Coast Guard’s future appears to be in great hands!
Now enjoy my photos…
Welcome Aboard America’s Tall Ship.USCGC Eagle is both a Coast Guard cutter and a barque.The Eagle has over six miles of standing and running rigging, 23 sails, and more than 22,000 square feet of sail area that allow her to sail at 17 knots (19.5 mph).Eagle was originally German, launched in 1936, and was operated by the pre-World War II German navy. In 1946, after the end of World War II, United States Coast Guardsmen sailed the Eagle to the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.Originally, the Eagle trained German Navy sailors as Horst Wessel. It sailed to the Canary Islands and West Indies, and later, during World War II, on the Baltic Sea. She carried anti-aircraft guns, and her logs indicate that she fired at Allied and German aircraft.A permanent Coast Guard crew of approximately 60 personnel maintain and operate the Eagle year round.The Eagle gives officer candidates and enlisted servicemembers hands-on, teamwork-focused opportunities to lead, train and serve at sea…The Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut produces leaders of character… Nearly 300 high school graduates enroll annually…Sail training offers…a unique and useful training experience. This includes learning the fundamentals of seamanship, weather, and nautical tradition…
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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 “pirate ship” promoting Voodoo Ranger IPA arrived behind the San Diego Convention Center early this morning, in time for Comic-Con 2025! The amazing ship is now docked across the bayside boardwalk from the King of the Hill offsite, between two other Comic-Con offsites: Brawl Stars and Abbott Elementary.
Why is “pirate ship” written in quotes? Because this beautiful tall ship, San Salvador, is actually a faithful replica of the Spanish galleon Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed in when he discovered San Diego Bay in 1542!
This modern day San Salvador was built by the Maritime Museum of San Diego back in 2015, and is now a seaworthy part of the museum’s ship collection.
Would you like to see photographs of San Salvador being built in Spanish Landing park, near San Diego International Airport? If you would, click here!
Do you live in San Diego? Do you love ships, history and adventure? Join me in becoming a Maritime Museum of San Diego member!
The Voodoo Ranger’s black pirate sails will beckon Comic-Con visitors who are looking for music, live entertainment, drink and a good time. The floating activation will be open to the public Thursday through Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm.
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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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.
One way to perform an “Egyptian walk” in San Diego? Become a volunteer at the Maritime Museum of San Diego and help carry a tall ship’s long mast or yard!
Today the lateen yard was being removed by a small army of volunteers from the museum’s Spanish galleon replica San Salvador. The ship will be heading down to Marine Group Boat Works in Chula Vista to be lifted out of the water for the periodic hull cleaning and inspection. Removing the yard is necessary before this operation.
A line of people, walking in unison, with arms bent or extended as they hold up a heavy spar does appear a bit like Egyptian hieroglyphics. One of the volunteers called what you see in my photographs an Egyptian walk!
(No, that popular song by The Bangles wasn’t playing in the background.)
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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.
Inchcliffe Castle, San Diego, circa 1940, by artist Anton Otto Fischer.
An important new exhibition has opened at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. It’s titled Celebrating the Sea: Exploring the Maritime Museum of San Diego’s Hidden Collection.
Notable works of original art in the museum’s extensive collection have been placed on view. Included are beautiful paintings of ships, local scenes that include San Diego Bay, and coastal vistas. Many of the pieces are by renowned artists, like Maurice Braun and Arthur Beaumont.
Visitors will also marvel at rare artifacts, such as an antique Chinese lacquer cabinet with ivory chess set, circa 1720.
The fine exhibition reinforces the Maritime Museum of San Diego’s reputation as a world-famous destination for lovers of both art and the sea!
Coaling Station on the San Diego Waterfront, 1930s, by artist Marie DuBarry.East View of the Coast Guard Station, 1934-1937, by artist Maurice Braun.
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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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 