Tag: tall ships

Cool photo memories from September 2017.

How many big events are scheduled for this coming Labor Day weekend? Searching online event calendars, I haven’t noticed too many. That certainly wasn’t the case five years ago!

Back in September 2017, during Labor Day weekend, San Diego hosted an amazing international sand sculpture competition on Broadway Pier, another beautiful Festival of Sail on the Embarcadero, and there was the traditional stickball tournament in Little Italy.

Then later that September I recorded even more fun and inspirational stuff! Like Brazilian Day in Mission Beach, Fiestas Patrias in Old Town, the Trolley Dances downtown, and a special Remember Me Thursday in Balboa Park!

Here’s your opportunity to relive some of those moments. Check out the upcoming links for all of the colorful photographs!

Click the following links to see many photos…

World’s top sand sculptors create fantastic art!

Another perfect day at the Festival of Sail.

Stepping aboard the beautiful Bill of Rights.

Royal Marines, an admiral, pirates, dancers!

Photos from the Labor Day Stickball Tournament.

9/11 Firefighter’s legacy: Two Sons and Stickball.

Photos of the San Diego Brazilian Day Festival!

Green Flash public art in Mission Beach!

Festive culture and tradition at Fiestas Patrias!

Bells ring in San Diego for Constitution Day!

San Diego Convention Center stripped of sails!

Photos of San Diego Bonsai Club exhibition.

Remember Me Thursday love in Balboa Park.

Trolley Dances at the downtown Central Library!

Scouts remove gum at Cabrillo National Monument!

Do you know of any fun public events coming up this weekend? Leave a comment! I might head on over with my camera!

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Mystic Whaler returns to San Diego!

A very beautiful tall ship has returned to San Diego. The Mystic Whaler is visiting the Maritime Museum of San Diego prior to a little shipyard work down in the South Bay.

I snapped photos of Mystic Whaler in January, as it was making its way up to the Channel Islands, where it now takes students on educational sailing excursions.

The 110-foot, 97-ton schooner was built in Florida in 1967, and once hosted cruises at its previous base in Connecticut. That explains the Mystic name.

I was excited to see this amazing tall ship again, and my camera promptly came out, of course!

Enjoy a few new photos…

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Pirate ship full of beer arrives at Comic-Con!

A full-size, working Spanish galleon docked this morning behind the San Diego Convention Center for Comic-Con!

San Salvador, a replica of explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo’s famous ship, will be hosting a special 2022 Comic-Con offsite. Visitors will think they are boarding a pirate ship to sample Voodoo Ranger IPA adult beverages!

Of course, they’ll actually be on a ship of the Maritime Museum of San Diego. The San Salvador was built on Spanish Landing near the airport seven years ago.

If you’d like to see photographs of this amazing Spanish galleon replica being built, click here!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Spanish galleon prepares to sail to Comic-Con!

A full size Spanish galleon will be sailing to 2022 Comic-Con in San Diego next week!

I visited the Maritime Museum of San Diego today, home of San Salvador, a working replica of the famous Spanish galleon sailed by explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo back in 1542.

The beautiful tall ship is being prepared for its big journey . . . a mile or two down San Diego Bay. Next Tuesday it will dock behind the convention center, and during Comic-Con it will welcome visitors to experience Voodoo Ranger IPA beers.

(It appears that for this event the galleon will be called a pirate ship. Funny. The museum’s famous iron-hulled merchant ship Star of India is also referred to as a pirate ship by most tourists. Oh, well. It’s what you see in the movies, I guess.)

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Giant sea monster suddenly attacks tall ship!

Historic tall ship Star of India is now under attack by a gigantic sea monster!

Menacing red tentacles rose from the depths of San Diego Bay yesterday, penetrating the iron hull of the world-famous ship. The monster has wrapped its enormous appendages around the masts of the ship, threatening to drag it down to Davy Jones’ locker.

Is it the dread Kraken? Is it the Giant Squid from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? Or The Watcher in the Water that lives in the stagnant pool outside the West-gate of Moria? Is it a terrifying Lovecraftian creature from your worst nightmares?

Star of India volunteers climbed into the rigging to wrestle with the mysterious creature, but what hope is there?

As it turns out, this huge tentacled sea monster on the Embarcadero is part of an upcoming attraction that visitors (kids in particular!) will enjoy down in the hold of Star of India.

Sea Monsters: Delving Into The Deep Myth will include animatronic monsters sure to bring screams of delight! I had a little glimpse recently!

The fun exhibit opens on Saturday, July 9, 2022!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Begin the adventure of a lifetime in San Diego!

Would you, or someone you know, like to embark on the adventure of a lifetime?

You can start that adventure this very moment. Sign up to become one of a select few: those who help sail famous tall ships right here in San Diego. Including the oldest active sailing ship in the world, Star of India!

Start down the path to becoming a crewmember and you’ll create incredible memories. Your background, age or experience don’t matter.

Today I watched from the poop deck of Star of India as two new museum volunteers learned to tie knots.

With training, which includes a special class that begins every January, you, too, can help operate the replica 19th century schooner Californian; the replica 18th century British Frigate HMS Surprise; the 19th century three-masted Bark Star of India; the replica 16th century Spanish Galleon San Salvador; and the 20th century steam yacht Medea.

Learn all about this incredible opportunity by clicking here!

Retired? No problem? A student? No problem. Don’t know anything about ships or sailing? No problem!

Begin this adventure and you’ll learn nautical skills and acquire knowledge that very few people share.

Afraid of climbing high into a tall ship’s rigging? No problem! When operating these historic ships, there’s plenty to do down on deck, too!

This afternoon I spoke to Jim, First Mate of Star of India, and absorbed all sorts of interesting information. He told me there’s something new to learn at the Maritime Museum every single day. And he’s been with the museum now for almost 50 years! (He started out working in the gift shop!)

Interested? Begin your adventure of a lifetime now, by clicking here. You’ll even have a chance to help sail the beautiful Star of India herself, when next she goes out to sea, in November 2023!

That would make for one amazing memory.

Two beautiful tall ships of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, Star of India and Californian, head out into the Pacific Ocean.
Two beautiful tall ships of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, Star of India and Californian, head out into the Pacific Ocean.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Brave men run in La Jolla!

Walk beside the ocean in La Jolla and you might observe the curious statement: BRAVE MEN RUN IN MY FAMILY.

The bold words appear in a large outdoor mural, on a wall of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego high above Coast Boulevard. The humorous wordplay is coupled with the silhouette of a tall ship under many sails running before the wind.

The title of the mural is Brave Men of La Jolla. It’s by Southern California pop artist Ed Ruscha. Created in 1995-1996, the image is acrylic on PVC coated fabric and measures a whopping 24.75 x 36 feet.

I took photographs of the mural from MCASD’s Edwards Sculpture Garden during my visit to the recently renovated museum a few weekends ago.

If the sly “brave men run in my family” quote seems familiar, it was originally spoken by Bob Hope’s cowardly dentist character “Painless” Peter Potter in the 1948 comedy The Paleface. He says these words when faced with danger, and then he promptly runs away!

Would the brave men of La Jolla do the same?

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Restoring a great San Diego treasure!

The historic ship Star of India is one of San Diego’s great treasures. Its figurehead, depicting the Greek Muse of music and lyric poetry Euterpe, is undergoing restoration at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. Euterpe was the original name of Star of India when it was launched in 1863 at the Isle of Man.

Should you venture down into the hold of Star of India, you’ll see how the carved wooden figurehead has had many layers of paint removed, in order to remove rot and fill in cracks. The last time the figurehead was removed from the tall ship’s bow was back in 1988.

The figurehead was carved from a single piece of pine wood by a worker at a Glasgow boatyard named George Sutherland. By sheer coincidence, that is the exact name of the Maritime Museum crew member leading today’s restoration effort!

If you’re interested in seeing history close up, this is your chance! Head down to the Maritime Museum of San Diego, step aboard Star of India, the world’s oldest active sailing ship, and descend from the main deck down two levels into the hold, where you can view the renewal of beautiful Euterpe!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Smiling new volunteer at Maritime Museum!

Today was Samantha’s first day volunteering at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. From one who is a big fan of the museum–thank you!

I walked slowly around the museum’s historic ships in the early afternoon, watching Sunday volunteers at work, and learned a few new things. There’s always something different and interesting to discover here!

As you can see, along with Samantha, many were working to maintain the Star of India.

Applying a clear UV-resistant acrylic to the main deck of Star of India.
Volunteering, and being members of a sail crew, seems to produce smiles!
Out on the museum’s barge, I saw the Robert Sharp is now pink! Don’t worry, I was told, that’s just a primer coat.
Hammering away on the Star of India’s forward capstan.
A group was setting out on a Sunday sailing adventure aboard tall ship Californian.
I haven’t yet enjoyed a Californian sailing adventure, but I promise to, one day. Looks incredible!
There she goes!

Stay tuned for more photos from Chula Vista, Allied Gardens, La Jolla . . . and who knows where else!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Another stunning sunset behind tall ships!

Another stunning sunset in San Diego this evening.

I was walking downtown, along the Embarcadero, when the sun descended into storm clouds beyond Point Loma. The clouds had turned golden near the horizon.

I took these photographs with several tall ships of the Maritime Museum of San Diego in the foreground.

I never tire of cool sights like this!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!