Elegant stern of HMS Surprise, one of many fascinating ships owned by the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
It’s Christmas. I wasn’t planning to blog today. But this afternoon I became a new member of the Maritime Museum of San Diego! (Having lived for 15 years just a short walk from the museum, it’s about time!)
Naturally, I couldn’t wait to visit several of the amazing ships. The Maritime Museum of San Diego has one of the finest and largest collections of historical ships in the world!
If you’ve ever watched the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, then you’ll probably recognize the HMS Surprise. The beautiful tall ship, upon which many scenes were filmed, is in the museum’s collection. And I took a bunch of photos today!
Becoming a member of the Maritime Museum of San Diego is going to be awesome. Among other great perks, I can visit any of the ships free for an entire year. I can sit in the elegant enclosed passenger deck of the Steam Ferry Berkeley and read and write whenever I please! Right out on beautiful San Diego Bay! How cool is that?
I bet some of you might really enjoy membership, too! I’m told they are looking for volunteers to help sail their new Spanish galleon replica San Salvador!
HMS Surprise in some morning sunlight.The ship you are about to board was originally built as a replica of the British 24-gun frigate Rose of 1757. HMS Rose played a role in the American Revolution and was sunk in Savanna harbor in 1779.Detailed model of the HMS Surprise, which is the only operating replica of an 18th century frigate in the world. The ship was used in the filming of Master and Commander, starring Russell Crowe.Visitor to the San Diego Maritime Museum pretends to steer the tall ship HMS Surprise, which is docked on the Embarcadero near the historic Star of India, in the background.View of the ship’s main deck and lower rigging from the quarterdeck. A portion of San Diego’s skyline and the County Administration Building are visible.Cannon projects from hull of HMS Surprise, which is a replica of a 24-gun frigate of the Royal Navy, based on 18th century British Admiralty drawings.Looking upward at the three masts, furled sails and other complicated rigging.Photo through ropes of the nearby Star of India, the world’s oldest active sailing ship, also part of the Maritime Museum of San Diego.The ship’s bell. Originally named the HMS Rose, the ship was re-registered as HMS Surprise because of her starring role in the film Master and Commander.Below deck there are many fascinating exhibits, which show what life was like aboard a frigate. Other displays recall the filming of Master and Commander.Pick the right kind of shot. The Surprise carried a variety of projectiles, each suited for different purposes.Artistic depiction of activity below deck during an engagement with the enemy. Operating the cannons was a complicated, dangerous duty.Feeling seasick? Visit the surgeon. Getting sick at sea was very serious not only for the ill sailor, but also for the entire crew.Exhibit inside HMS Surprise recalls the ship’s doctor in the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. The fictional Dr. Stephen Maturin was also a scientist and naturalist.Most of the crew slept below the gun deck in hammocks. Tightly-packed swinging hammocks figured memorably in the visuals of the movie Master and Commander.Ship’s Biscuit, also known as Hard Tack, was easy to make and preserve, and became part of the staple diet for British and Spanish mariners on their long voyages in the Pacific.Chickens, geese and ducks were carried on board as live food. Officers enjoyed eggs. Fresh meat was reserved for the officers and those sick with scurvy.A remote station used for steering the ship when she is propelled by her twin diesel engines. In 2007, HMS Surprise was restored to sailing condition.One of several photos on display from the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Famous actor Russell Crowe played the role of Captain Jack Aubrey.Distinctive figurehead representing the Greek goddess Athena often seen in the popular movie. It now graces San Diego’s waterfront. UPDATE! I’ve been told it actually represents Boadicea, queen of the British Celtic Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire.Photograph of the HMS Surprise as evening approaches. One of many wonderful ships that visitors can board at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
UPDATE!
A new exhibit called Man-of-War opened on HMS Surprise in May, 2018. There are many new signs around the ship, and the captain’s great cabin is now open to the public. (I intend to blog about the great cabin separately.)
Here are additional photos. Read the captions for explanations about life aboard British fighting ships from that fascinating era.
A new exhibit called Man-of-War aboard the HMS Surprise features new signs describing life aboard an 18th century British frigate. Prepare for Battle!The ship was built as replica of the HMS Rose in 1970. It was purchased by Twentieth Century Fox to be used in the movie Master and Commander, starring Russell Crowe, and was subsequently renamed HMS Surprise.Following maritime tradition, the ship has retained its original bell.Looking at the newly redecked quarterdeck of the HMS Surprise. The rest of the main deck will be restored as well.An officer on the quarterdeck would issue commands to the sailor manning the wheel, which controlled the rudder at the ship’s stern.The Disney Wonder cruise ship is seen docked in San Diego beyond the capstan. HMS Surprise was used in the filming of Disney’s movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.Many hands turned the capstan to raise or lower the anchor.Ordinary sailors relieved themselves at the ship’s bow. Hence the name head.This was a sailor’s bathroom!A man-of-war could remain at sea for many months and travel more than 150 miles per day.On the gun deck of HMS Surprise, replica twenty-four-pound cannons have names like Spit Fire, Beelzebub and Bulldog. Larger than what a frigate would carry, these were used for dramatic effect in the movie.A display demonstrates aspects of a warship’s gun and its operation.Diagram depicts how a six-man gun crew would load, aim and fire different types of shot.Sailors lived in their own specialized world, with familiar customs, rules, routines and expectations.The complex often stressful operation of a man-of-war required strict discipline. Punishments included flogging and gagging.The English diet at sea was rather simple and predictable. Lots of biscuit, beer, pease, oatmeal and butter. Pork and cheese, too.Cooking in the galley was done in calm weather. The Brodie Stove was designed for use on crowded wooden ships where dangerous fire must be avoided at all costs.A rat has found its way into a ship’s food barrel.The Royal Navy issued hard biscuits made of flour and water that were stored in sacks for months at a time. Weevils and maggots were a constant problem.Costume worn by character Midshipman Lord William Blakeney in the movie Master and Commander.Unlike the captain who in his great cabin as a gentleman lived in comparative luxury, lesser officers, like the crew, made due with cramped quarters.Midshipmen who sought to become officers learned seamanship and navigation. They had to master many skills required to operate and command a ship.Instruments used to navigate a ship included the octant and sand glass.The doctor’s quarters on the HMS Surprise. A photo shows actor Paul Bettany as the film’s character Dr. Stephen Maturin.Hammocks were often used by sailors to store clothing and personal items.A suspended mess table where sailors would eat together next to a hammock on the gun deck of museum ship HMS Surprise.
Masts of a few visiting tall ships during 2015 Festival of Sail, at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
The 2015 Festival of Sail is underway! The cool event runs through Labor Day and takes place on the Embarcadero at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. This morning I got some photos!
The popular festival, which is held every year in late summer, features a large gathering of beautiful tall ships. A few belong to the museum; others are visiting San Diego for this very special occasion.
Last year I wrote several detailed blogs and covered many of the tall ships which I saw again today. So this year I figured I’d just mosey from ship to ship, taking random photos, not worrying too much about jotting down gobs of information. Here’s the result…
The brig Pilgrim, approximate replica of the historic ship Richard Henry Dana sailed in, is visiting San Diego again for the annual tall ship festival.Visitors enjoy touring the deck of the Pilgrim on Sunday morning. It’s another sunny summer day on blue San Diego Bay!Ship’s navigation light and galley. Signs on the Pilgrim describe life on the sea a couple centuries ago, when Two Years Before the Mast was written by Dana.Kayaks on the smooth water cruise past a collection of very cool tall ships.Plaque on tall ship American Pride indicates that down below is the Captain’s Quarters.Close look at wooden steering wheel of the American Pride.Volunteer crew members of American Pride assembled on deck as their fine ship visits San Diego.Lion’s head decorates spar projecting from hull of topsail schooner Amazing Grace.A visitor at 2015 Festival of Sail in San Diego looks down into the cabin of Amazing Grace.A second floating dock and even more cool tall ships can be seen beyond Amazing Grace.Curious eyes peer below deck of the Bill of Rights, perhaps wondering what it would be like to live in very close quarters while at sea.Bill of Rights tall ship crew members were dressed in seafaring garb. This pirate had a collection of pistols and a small cannon on display.Star motif on a block used by a single rope in some complicated rigging. Masts of another nearby tall ship rise in the background.To step off the Bill of Rights one must walk the plank!Stern of Bill of Rights seen from rear deck of the brigantine Irving Johnson.Photo of ship’s cabin containing shelves of books, a globe and navigational charts.Friendly crew member on the Exy Johnson was playing familiar seagoing tunes on a concertina.It appears this ladder has seen a great deal of usage and weather.Festival of Sail visitors check out many cool sights! I see someone climbing one of the Irving Johnson’s shrouds!Watch out! This wild-eyed pirate has two wicked swords! Run for it!Looking at more ships docked behind the Maritime Museum’s historic Steam Ferry Berkeley. I see masts of the San Salvador, Californian and America.American flag in deep blue sky curls in the pleasant sea breeze.I saw various folks in period costumes. This lady had a nice smile!Another photo of the ships behind the Berkeley. The red star is on the museum’s B-39 Soviet diesel submarine which operated during the Cold War.A land battery took part during the festival’s cannon battles. A beautiful tall ship heads across the bay.View of historic bark Star of India from deck of HMS Surprise.Someone checks out the high masts of HMS Surprise, the ship used in the filming of Master and Commander starring Russell Crowe.Written on the ship’s bell is HMS Rose, the original name of the Surprise.Two members of the Royal Guard enjoy a drink and snack on San Diego’s Embarcadero during the Festival of Sail. They must be on shore leave.White sails, wooden ships, blue sky and living visions of a rich maritime history.Kids on deck of Star of India watch a cannon battle on San Diego Bay.
A special thank you to everyone following Cool San Diego Sights. You all are the greatest! I just wanted to say that.
Where will we go next? I don’t know! Life is an adventure!
Sailboat in a puddle of light behind the tall ship Pilgrim. Friday draws to an end at the Festival of Sail, on San Diego’s Embarcadero.
After work, I got off the trolley at Little Italy and walked down to the Embarcadero. I hoped to see a little of the Festival of Sail. Today was the first day of the big annual event!
Even though I missed the Parade of Sail across San Diego Bay, which took place in the afternoon, I managed to get a bit lucky! The day’s activities were over, the crowds had dissipated, and I didn’t need a ticket to enjoy a leisurely stroll alongside the many beautiful tall ships! Later this weekend I’ll buy a ticket during event hours and board the ships. Stay tuned!
Until then, here are some photos of what I saw…
The Port of San Diego and the Maritime Museum are presenting the 2015 Festival of Sail, with lots of cool visiting tall ships, cannon battles, and other nautical stuff.Photographer near the HMS Surprise takes a photo of masts along the waterfront. Many tall ships are docked just beyond the museum’s Steam Ferry Berkeley.I saw a number of people wearing old-fashioned costumes, including these folks riding a bike and a big-wheeled penny-farthing along the water!Members of the United States Navy came jogging down the Embarcadero as the day came to an end in San Diego!The sun descends behind clouds. Many high masts, yards, ropes and fluttering banners add character to beautiful San Diego Bay at the Festival of Sail.Two crew members work high in the rigging of the Amazing Grace tall ship.The 2015 Festival Sail runs through Labor Day weekend. You’ll find it downtown at the awesome Maritime Museum of San Diego!
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San Diego County Supervisor Dave Roberts begins the Moby Dick Marathon Reading on the poop deck of the Star of India.
The Star of India is the world’s oldest ship that sails. It’s docked in San Diego Bay. Yesterday, from the barque’s 150 year old deck, a rare white whale was glimpsed like a snowy hill in the air, far, far away. The whale was just visible, a dim revelation, at the edge of human sight.
Mysterious and sublime, the elusive Moby Dick was seen by a fortunate few in the imagination’s eye, as readers took turns speaking words on pages that were written over a century ago by the great American author Herman Melville.
The wonderful Moby Dick Marathon Reading commenced at noon, and continued far into the dark night. The event was put on by the Maritime Museum of San Diego and Write Out Loud. I swung on by a few times, breathed in the mood, the salt air. I love the novel. It might be my favorite. I love the idea of reading atop the swelling sea, about a bright phantom moving darkly below, down in the unfathomable depths.
The Maritime Museum of San Diego and Write Out Loud created a cool event that hopefully becomes a yearly tradition.Diagram of Bark Star of India, launched as Euterpe on November 14, 1863 at Ramsey, Isle of Man. The world’s oldest active sailing ship and oldest merchantman afloat.An ageless volume of classic literature, published in 1851, shortly before the construction of this ship, was brought to life by many readers.Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail…Listeners follow Melville’s words with their own beloved books, or gaze out at the water on a fine summer day on San Diego’s Embarcadero.Kids walk up onto Star of India’s high poop deck. Perhaps the eyes of youth, probing the horizon, can discern the strange wonder of Moby Dick.Or age with its collected wisdom, staring into thin pages, might glimpse the white whale.White sails, yards, shrouds, ropes and open blue sky.Illustration on plaque found on main deck, showing a Pull on the Lee ForeBraces. The sails must be kept to the wind.Passionate reader turns the pages of Moby Dick. Melville describes many large cetaceans in the oceans of the world, but only one great white whale, nemesis of Captain Ahab.Painting of Star of India under sail by marine artist Frederick Wetzel. The historic three-masted bark is shown clearing Point Loma during a festive event back in 1984.Steering wheel and binnacle, instruments of navigation used by generations of restless, active seafaring men.The stern of our beautiful Star of India. A gigantic American flag billows in the sea breeze.A reader awaits his turn. Ishmael recalls his strange voyage side by side with varied characters, representatives of the human race, including a humane cannibal and a tyrannical captain.The sun’s horizontal rays splash sails with gold as another day nears an end.Ahab addresses Starbuck and crew: …it was Moby Dick that dismasted me…I’ll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn..and round perdition’s flames before I give him up…Vengeance on a dumb brute! cried Starbuck, that simply smote thee from blindest instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous…Photo taken from wooden bench, over a skylight which provides filtered daylight for the ship’s elegant saloon below.Reading on into the twilight. Once begun, the great novel drives forward, pulling readers into its tragic quest for an unpredictable, dangerous unknown.Shadow moves across the deep.As the sun sets, by sheer chance it seems, Chapter 37 of Moby Dick is begun, titled Sunset.Light shines from behind the figurehead of the beautiful Star of India, a favorite attraction on San Diego Bay.Is that lone bird an albatross flown from Melville’s great novel? No, just a common gull in the dying light.The sky through ship’s rigging is tinged orange, red, purple and gold.Night comes on. Melville has already referenced the blackness of darkness. He now speaks about the whiteness of the whale, and the majestic, pure, terrifying color white.It was the whiteness of the whale that above all things appalled me.Before inevitable night falls and stars emerge, glowing color paints the world.Masts of tall ship Californian, of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, and a brilliant sunset. Unlike a fictional whale, these profoundly beautiful things are quite easily seen.
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San Salvador, a close reproduction of explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s historic galleon, undergoes final preparation at Spanish Landing in San Diego.
San Salvador’s masts and bowsprit have been installed!
I swung by the amazing ship’s build site this morning after doing a couple errands in Point Loma. Additional work was underway on the bowsprit, and the hull appears almost finished. One gentleman was painting white Roman numerals on the bow which will indicate the ship’s depth.
Complications and unforeseen difficulties have delayed the launch of the Spanish galleon, but now the full-scale, seaworthy replica of explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s historic ship is almost ready to be placed into San Diego Bay!
As I write this, very little updated information can be found concerning the upcoming launch of San Salvador. When the ship was weighed some months ago, it came in at 20 tons more than expected. Due to logistics, plans to use a crane to transport the ship to Broadway Pier were necessarily altered, then ultimately discarded.
I received some info on the museum’s new plan during a short conversation with Al Sorkin, aka Captain Swordfish, a few days ago while I was walking along the Embarcadero. He indicated the San Salvador will be turned, then rolled over a temporary bridge onto a barge behind Harbor Island. The barge will then transport the galleon to a local shipyard, where a crane will finally hoist San Salvador into San Diego Bay.
The plan, as I understood it, is to add ballast and complete the ship’s rigging while it’s docked by the Maritime Museum. I also heard that the museum hopes San Salvador is ready to lead other tall ships into San Diego Bay for the ceremonial parade at this year’s Festival of Sail! That would be very cool!
Maritime Museum of San Diego volunteers work on the bowsprit, before San Salvador is eventually moved onto a barge, then hoisted at a local shipyard into the bay.A temporary “bridge” will be built across this path in the coming weeks to allow the large San Salvador Spanish galleon to be rolled onto a barge.While the masts are now in, yards are still being prepared. As I understand it, they’ll be installed along with the ballast, once San Salvador is afloat near the Maritime Museum.Guys work on the bowsprit in early July. The hope is that San Salvador leads the 2015 Festival of Sail’s parade of tall ships into San Diego Bay!
UPDATE!
As of 7/29/15, the San Salvador is afloat on San Diego Bay! A week ago a barge transported the replica galleon to Chula Vista in our South Bay, where today it was lifted into the water. I learned this afternoon that in fact the ballast will be added and rigging completed in Chula Vista, in a place that is closed to the public. The ship will have to undergo extensive testing by the Coast Guard before being declared seaworthy. It’s still hoped everything will be completed in time for the Festival of Sail, which takes place in a little over a month!
Sign at entrance to San Salvador build site. You have a couple more weeks to visit before the replica galleon’s historic launch into San Diego Bay.
Yesterday I enjoyed a tour of something so unbelievably cool it almost defies description. Along with my photographs I took some notes, but what I’m about to write might not be perfectly accurate. I’m relying to an extent on memory, which with my advancing age isn’t quite what it used to be. So if anyone reading my captions spots an error, PLEASE write a comment at the bottom of this blog post!
Later this month, the Maritime Museum of San Diego will be launching its absolutely fantastic, historically accurate, seaworthy replica of the galleon San Salvador. The original San Salvador was the ship that Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed in during his voyage of discovery up the California coast on behalf of Spain. The famous galleon entered San Diego Bay in 1542, making Cabrillo the first European to visit the large, natural harbor. What we call San Diego today he named San Miguel.
Today, the full-size working replica of Cabrillo’s ship is being built at the west end of Spanish Landing, in an area called San Salvador Village, between Harbor Island and San Diego International Airport. The finished ship will be 92 feet long with a beam of 24 feet. As I understand it, construction has been underway for about four years, and for a variety of reasons has taken a couple years longer than originally projected. But once the decks are re-caulked, the shrouds tarred, and a few other things finished, the ship’s exterior will finally be ready for its imminent introduction into San Diego Bay!
The galleon, which without ballast weighs about 130 tons, will be slowly towed to the Broadway Pier downtown, then lifted by a huge crane into the bay. While docked beside the other ships of the Maritime Museum, the interior will be finished, about 60 more tons of lead ballast added, and the vessel’s ability to remain upright thoroughly tested by the Coast Guard.
(Don’t quote me on the 130 tons and 60 tons. Those figures came entirely from my leaky memory.)
There’s simply too much awesome stuff to describe in a few paragraphs, so let me now show you my photographs and I’ll include in the captions some of the cool stuff I learned or observed…
Shipbuilding was the first industrial activity of the New World. Gift shop at site entrance includes Spanish conquistador helmets and breastplate.Poster shows personal arms and protective clothing used by the men who sailed with Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo five centuries ago.A small museum and gift shop includes many interesting sights, including a shirt of chain mail and flag of the Spanish Empire.Diagram shows the sail plan for historic galleon San Salvador.Various items on display include lantern, candle, bottle, ship’s food and native Kumeyaay artifacts.Outside, at the build site, there are many more exhibits. This reproduction of found rock art seems to show sailing ships. The native Kumeyaay people often visited San Diego Bay.First Contact. If this rock art is a Kumeyaay depiction of Cabrillo’s expedition, it might be the oldest graphic representation of a recorded event in American history.Here’s a huge anchor! I didn’t ask, but I assume it will be used by the San Salvador.San Salvador carries six sails totaling a little less than 5000 square feet. The sails are not only used to propel the ship, but exert a larger influence on steering than the rudder.View of a small sail suspended from a yard, with Harbor Drive in the background north of the build site.Suspended from a crane is a shroud (rigging that helps hold a mast) that’s being tarred. The bow of the galleon comes to a sharp point at its beak.Iron in an undeveloped region of the New World was a precious commodity. Imported ingots were often used to forge various fittings and hardware.Hooks, chain links and other iron instruments were crucial to sail and maintain a large ship.The San Salvador carried armament to defend the expedition from potential threats. The cannon-like bombard and swivel gun could be fired from the deck.Two bombards on display at the San Salvador build site. They could fire shot about five pounds in weight and were mounted on wheels.Detailed map of Cabrillo’s route up the California coast. He found neither treasure, nor a passage to the Atlantic.There are no blueprints for the galleon San Salvador. To reconstruct the 16th century ship, the Maritime Museum of San Diego used scarce historical clues.It was difficult to find the right kinds of wood for different parts of the vessel. Both old and modern shipbuilding techniques were used.Wood mast segments and yards are coasted with linseed oil, I believe. They’ll be installed once the ship is afloat in San Diego Bay.Approaching the impressive reproduction of the historic galleon. Just imagine going for an ocean sail in this!Detailed schematic shows framework and beams that support decking and hull.The master builder sets up keel, stem, sternpost and deadwood, locked together with long iron drifts. The master frame is then built.I believe these are the lower halves of two masts (main and fore), each ending in a crow’s nest.A look at the super hard wood hull of the galleon San Salvador at Spanish Landing.Volunteer tour guide shows how six segments of heavy lead are attached to the keel.Each piece of lead weighs over 6000 pounds. The lead was originally used for the drop hammers of Rohr Industries in Chula Vista to form aircraft parts.A small tour group investigates the amazing galleon on a sunny San Diego day!The high stern of San Salvador. The rudder is attached to a tiller. That propeller below (and an eventual engine) is a modern convenience unknown by Cabrillo!Our group climbed the steps of scaffolding to check out the hull, upper deck and aftcastle.We’re shown where a shroud connects to the ship’s side. The darker looking lower portion of the hull is made of hard wood, which is heavier than water.We’re almost on top!View of the San Salvador galleon while standing atop the aftcastle. Work to finish the vessel’s deck and interior is underway.This deck will be re-caulked soon using cotton, hemp rope and synthetic tar. Earlier caulking with less modern materials was unsuccessful, if I recall correctly.Sketch of helmsman steering the galleon with a vertical lever attached to the rudder’s tiller. He had a window to look through in the aftcastle.Looking back at the aftcastle and rearmost poop deck from the center of the upper deck. You can see the window through which the helmsman peered.Capstan is a revolving vertical timber that projects through the deck. Bars will be inserted and used by sailors to turn the capstan, hauling ropes or chains.This is one of five separate water-tight compartments being worked on below. Bunks will be contained here, for journeys out to the Channel Islands eventually.Under the forecastle, looking toward the bow’s beak. The two holes beside the rectangular chain locker are hawseholes, through which the anchor chain is lifted or lowered.Looking straight down here you can see where the foremast and bowsprit are seated.Wow! Is this cool! How often does one get to walk around an actual honest-to-goodness working galleon!
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Fiery sunset in late February behind figurehead of Star of India.
I was fortunate to capture some wonderful photographs this evening. I was walking along the beautiful Embarcadero near the Maritime Museum of San Diego as the sun set. Sky and clouds turned for a moment into flame.
Puffy clouds emblazoned by setting sun, and the rigging of glorious tall ships.Maritime Museum of San Diego’s B-39 Soviet submarine is dark under tinted sky.HMS Surprise and steam ferryboat Berkeley at nightfall on the Embarcadero.Students hauling a rope learn about sailing and seamanship on Star of India.Moon behind a mast and yards of San Diego’s historic 1863 bark Star of India.Turning eastward as day ends. Amazing glowing color above downtown buildings.Museum visitors seem to cross into a romantic, windswept dream.
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Seaworthy replica of galleon San Salvador built by San Diego Maritime Museum.
On my way to the Cabrillo Festival yesterday, I swung by Spanish Landing across from the airport to check out the San Salvador. As you might recall from my blog post from early last December, the San Salvador is a replica of the galleon sailed by explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542. The San Diego Maritime Museum is building it.
I was surprised to see the cool ship is nearly completed! Check out some pics I took over the surrounding fence! I spoke to a young volunteer who was working near the ship, and she told me the San Salvador is expected to launch in early 2015. The galleon will be sailing up the coast of California, recreating the historic trip by the famous explorer. And a documentary will be filmed during the voyage!
The peculiar-looking vessel will be able to navigate the open ocean, she assured me, and is ready to go today, but the folks building her are doing as much additional detail work as they can while the ship remains on dry land.
Bow modeled after historic galleon sailed by explorer Cabrillo in 1542.Stern of the wooden galleon that will sail on the Pacific Ocean in early 2015.View of the San Salvador and a huge mast from Harbor Drive sidewalk.People on the upper deck of the almost finished galleon.
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Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered San Diego Bay for Spain in 1542.
San Diego’s 51st Annual Cabrillo Festival was held today. Taking place at Ballast Point near the south end of Naval Base Point Loma, the event allowed the public to view a reenactment of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s entrance into San Diego Bay in 1542. Cabrillo, born in Portugal, commanded his voyage of discovery on behalf of Spain, sailing the galleon San Salvador up the west coast of America.
In addition to the colorful reenactment, the festival included a short ceremony, speeches, costumes, National Park exhibits, food and dance provided by various cultural groups, and just a lot of interesting local history. I took some photographs. Here they are!
Visitors to the 51st Annual Cabrillo Festival await reenactment of historic event.People gather above the small beach at Ballast Point on Naval Base Point Loma.As people await a rowboat full of reenactors, event commentary is provided.
A short walk out to a point beside the bay provided a view of the San Diego Maritime Museum’s tall ship Californian, which portrayed Cabrillo’s galleon San Salvador.
Tall ship Californian, in the distance, serves during event as Cabrillo’s galleon San Salvador.
I took pictures of two signs by the above fenced archeological site…
Sign at Ballast Point tells about archeological site of old Spanish whaling station.Stones and tiles are remains of an old tryworks oven where whale oil was boiled.
I headed back to the gathered crowd to await the main event…
Here comes the rowboat containing explorer Cabrillo, a priest and crew members.People watching this recreation of history are snapping photos like crazy.Cabrillo leaps from the galleon’s small boat onto the shore!Cabrillo in armor raises his sword, while priest with cross stands behind him.Cabrillo now plants a Spanish Cross of Burgundy flag on soil of New World.A proclamation is read on behalf of Spain by Portuguese explorer Cabrillo.Actors depart the narrow beach and head up to join the onlookers.Kids pose with a modern day version of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo.Many folks in costume were in the big crowd!Navy honor guard prepares for anthems of four nations and a moment of silence.Making an adjustment to costume from the Old World centuries ago.Anthems were played for Spain, Portugal, Mexico and the United States.
In addition to the four national anthems, a moment of silence honored the Native American Kumeyaay, who lived in this area long before Europeans arrived. Cabrillo spent a few days anchored in today’s San Diego Bay, a place he originally named San Miguel. He took on fresh water and traded with the native Kumeyaay people that he met.
People watch with interest during the short ceremony that included several speeches.Several beauty queens appear on stage and smile for everyone.Exhibits included various parts of Spanish conquistador armor.Small boy tries on a surprisingly heavy steel helmet.Chainmail was being twisted with an apparatus at the end of this table.Biscuits, nuts and an astrolabe are typical items carried on a Spanish galleon.Scouts demonstrate rope making with an interesting machine.Friendly lady was making woolen caps to be worn under those heavy steel helmets!
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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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