Not that I was glad when it came time for him to leave, but I am quite pleased to have made some marginal progress on the blog so . . . Hooray! for Uncle Jonathan’s last adventure!
If I remember correctly, Jonathan’s flight took off in the early afternoon, leaving us some time in the morning which we chose to spend down in San Diego (since that’s where he was flying out). Traveler’s choice: the Maritime Museum.
There were others but these were the day’s big catches: the HMS Surprise and a B-39 submarine. The Star of India, the world’s oldest active sailing ship, is typically at the museum as well, but when we visited the Star had been rented out and temporarily relocated for Comic-Con.
The bulk of the standard museum collection was housed in an 1898 steam ferry. The ferry’s upper deck is essentially in its original, rather lavish, condition, complete with stained glass windows, a dance floor and snack bar.
Next we board the HMS Surprise. This ship originally started out as the Rose, but was converted for its use in filming Master and Commander. We were welcomed aboard by a very enthusiastic docent who regaled us with the history, anecdotes and trivia of the ship.
The kids test out their sea legs.
To the right is the captain’s cabin. While not particularly roomy, it’s a darn sight better than the crew’s accommodations.
The crew’s quarters? This is it. You would have had the hammocks strung between and over the cannons with the kitchen and dining area on one end of the room. You see those two boxes next to the hammocks? There’s a table floating over them, tied to the roof; that’s the dining area. The “kitchen” was also the storage area for everything from gunpowder to live chickens. Cozy!
As cramped as that space was, I would have much preferred life aboard a British frigate over this Russian sub. It wasn’t so much a claustrophobia issue (which isn’t something that typically bothers me) as it was the overwhelming cluttered feeling of the space.
You couldn’t find two square inches of white space. See? And what happens if you turn the wrong wheel?
In any event, this submarine carried 24 torpedoes and crew of 78. Incidentally, it was also featured in a movie called Phantom that came out last year and apparently didn’t do very well.
A bit more exploration revealed the following bit of trivia previously unknown to me (this is what is written on that sign on the right): Californian’s figurehead is a depiction of Queen Calafia, the legendary black Amazon warrior queen associated with the mythical island of California. The legend of California rose from the novel “The Adventures of Esplandian” written about 1510 by the Spanish writer Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo. Many historians believe that explorer Hernan Cortes had this story in mind when he touched at the southern point of Baja California in 1536 thinking that he had arrived in Calafia’s land. The name became famous in map depictions of the then-unknown Pacific Coast of North America and the Spanish soon referred to their holdings along the entire coast as “California.”
Finally, the kids say goodbye to you and to Uncle Jonathan from the comfort of a very well-appointed steam yacht.
