Sailing of the Star of India

One of San Diego's most prominent attractions is a square-rigged vessel called the Star of India. She's moored up alongside the embarcadero which is a fancy term for San Diego's waterfront. They tout her as the oldest working ship in the world, and to prove this point they sail her annually. This weekend, November 10th and 11th, she makes her little jaunt up the coast to La Jolla and back. Only this time things were different - she had us to see her off.

Expecting crowds, we arrived early at 8:00 a.m. this morning when the ship's special guests and crew were boarding. The crew earn their way aboard by committing each Sunday for a year of training. We talked to one crew member, an engineer by day, who got bumped down to "handling the lines" because he missed a few Sundays because of a vacation he took to Europe. The other guests are big donators to the Maritime Museum, about $5K a pop at minimum.

The Star of India was built back in 1863 in Europe. She's square-rigged meaning that her sails face forward and the only way she goes anywhere is when the wind is cooperative and to her backside. To leave port, the ship employs the services of tug boats which consumes half the budget of the Maritime Museum, according to our new friend.

Recently, I've been reading and listening to a slew of books about sea voyages. My last, Red Sky in Morning, was about a women and her fiance who get hit by hurricane Raymond while piloting a yacht from Tahiti to San Diego. In the storm the boyfriend gets swept overboard by a rogue wave that also capsizes the boat. She ends up adrift for 41 days. Interesting, she'd learned celestrial navigation which saved her life because she was able direct the boat along the 19th longitude and hit Hawaii.

Besides the Maritime Museum which keeps a number of interesting ships for tours, the embarcadero has a number of other sights including many homeless people and the tuna fleet. We passed by a couple of older fishermen and I said I wanted to hire myself out on one of the boats. I got a lecture about the plight of the fishing industry in San Diego and how subsidized imports are killing the trade. I insisted that I be hired on one of their boats. He said, "sure, if you want to starve! Go sportfishing and get it out of your system." He was joking around but he meant what he said.

Photograph 1 - The Star of India in port.

Photograph 2 - HMS Surprise, a replica of an 18th century ship. You saw this ship in Russell Crowe's Master and Commander.

Photograph 3 - A Russian Submarine; part of the Maritime Museum's collection of ships.

Photograph 4 - USS Midway aircraft carrier. Converted into a museum.

Photograph 5 - This is new artwork titled Unconditional Surrender. It stands 25 feet tall. That's Aaron, Cecilia, and Marc in the lower left.

Photograph 6 - Another view. This part of the embarcadero has several tributes to the WWII era.

Photograph 7 - This group of statue commemorates Bob Hope. If you look closely, some of the objects are brightly dressed and look familiar.

Photograph 8 - The figure of Bob Hope on the sketch pad.

Photograph 9 - The old codger on the right started in the fishing industry in SD back in 1954. He says he's retired. Skilled hand at cutting netting. Doesn't recommend the profession.

Photograph 10 - Shipping pulling out.

Photograph 11 - And thar she goes.

Photograph 12 - She'll be towed out of the bay then then will set sail. The only thing missing was a star to sail by.

Photograph 13 - Family shot in front of the Maritime Museum. Aaron was disappointed that I didn't buy him a pirate hat. For $9! No way. The night before I had the kids watch Pirates of the Caribbean with Captain Jack Sparrow.