San Diego, a US Port of Call

May 1, 2013

San Diego, a US Port of Call

San Diego is always one of our favorite ports of call.  There is so much to do in the city.  Since we lecture on maritime themes, our first stop was the San Diego Maritime Museum, located right next to our ship’s docking area.

The museum is most famous for the windjammer, Star of India, the oldest merchant ship still afloat. 

In addition the Star, many other ships are included in the museum.  A replica of Surprise, a British brig-of-war from the Revolutionary War era is absolutely fascinating.  Also in the fine collection of ships are racing yachts in the America’s Cup class, as well as two submarines, (one Russian) and a classic San Francisco Bay ferry, restored to its condition 100 years ago.

When it comes to historic merchant ships, nothing beats the Star of India.  The barque-rigged, iron-hulled square sailer was built in 1863 and, over the years, hauled just about everything from bulk cargo to immigrants from Britain to New Zealand.  Of course, since one of our most popular lectures is about square riggers, we spent much time aboard, examining nearly every feature of this proud ship.  We were amazed at the amount of interior room below decks and also discovered that the crew of the ship numbered only about 25. Just sixteen of those were seamen who went aloft in the rigging. Comparing the British brig of the mid 1700s to the 1863 Star of India, we were surprised to find how far sail technology had advanced in just one century.

For any traveler to San Diego harbor, the museum is a must.

After catching up on our email, we spent some of the afternoon hours strolling through parts downtown of San Diego.  This central area lacks much in the way of retail space and is mainly occupied by government buildings, financial institutions and hotels, but we were still fascinated at the way their railroad service interfaced nicely with the efficient light-rail trolley service.

Our ship departed San Diego after dinner and we were soon heading north.  Our next port-of-call will be Victoria, three days from now.