Four Points Bulletin

The Maritime Museum consists of a series of submarines and sailing vessels (four of which are listed as National Historic Landmarks). It is one those places you have walked past one hundred times while strolling along the San Diego Embarcadero, oblivious to the treasures onboard. Our first time visiting the museum was on our wedding day, three years ago today. We wanted a fun setting for pictures after getting married, directly across the street, at the courthouse. Today we started our maritime tour at the HMS Surprise which, surprise!, is actually a replica of a 18th century British Frigate. It is a functional vessel, however, and has sailed thousands of miles as a sail training ship and attraction vessel, and was also used on the film, Master and Commander.

The Soviet-era diesel-electric submarine is almost 300 feet long and weighs almost 2,000 tons. It is not pretty, and was not a favorite of A1. While it was in service, this stealth vessel stalked U.S. warships throughout the world.

The Star of India is also the star of the Maritime Museum, it has sailed twenty one times around the world and is the world’s oldest active sailing ship. It launched in 1863, five days before Abe Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, but it doesn’t look a day over a century.

We had a ton of fun exploring these historic vessels and look forward to seeing more the next time. (There are two boats that we didn’t board, that A1 needs to steer.)