These photos were taken near the Maritime Museum, San Diego in September 2010. The ship is the Star of India.
The Star of India is the world's oldest, active sailing ship. She began life on the stocks at Ramsey Shipyard in the Isle of Man in 1863. The first name she bore was Euterpe and would remain so until 1901. (For those who are not familiar with that part of the world, the Isle of Man is in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. The island is not part of the United Kingdom or European Union, but has the status of crown dependency, similar to Jersey and Guernsey, with an independent administration. Its inhabitants are British Citizens.)
The Star of India began her sailing life with two near-disastrous voyages to India.
On her first trip she suffered a collision and mutiny.
On her second trip a cyclone caught Euterpe in the Bay of Bengal, and with her top masts cut away she barely made port.
Shortly afterwards her first sea captain died on board and was buried at sea.
More interesting facts about her:She was launched five days before Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
She sailed twenty-one times around the world.
She was never fitted with auxiliary power.
She went aground in Hawaii.
She became an American ship by Act of Congress.
She was trapped in ice in Alaska.
At the time of writing, she still sailed every November with a volunteer crew. Whether this is still the case, I don’t know.
More information about her can be found at the link I gave under the first photo.
Years ago, back in the days when we actually lived in San Diego, Gregg and I decided to drive into the city and visit the ship. We noticed quite a crowd of people and standing on my tippy toes I saw Walter Cronkite walk by and watched as he was escorted on board. I am not sure what he was there for but I do remember seeing him on the news that night. I always enjoyed listening to him.If you want to learn more about Walter Cronkite you can click here.
This friendly man gave us a wave after his photo was taken.
"I'm not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship."
~Louisa May Alcott~
Thanks for visiting and have a great day!
