I've long had an interest in square-rigged sailing ships. I built models of them
when I was growing up. I visited real ships when I travelled. I became a Member
of the Maritime Museum of San Diego when I moved to San Diego and more recently, I've
become a member of the Museum's Sail Crew and over the years, I've had the chance to
sail on several tall ships.
Star of India
One of the oldest ships still sailing, the Star of India was launched, as "Euterpe" in 1863.
She's hauled cargos of wool, cotton, timber, fish and immigrants and has circumnavigated the
globe 21 times.
| 09Nov13-11Nov13 |
Star Sail 2013 -
150th Anniversary of the launch of Star of India. I served on the mainmast
crew. |
| 17Nov18-18Nov18 |
Star Sail 2018 -
155th Anniversary of the launch of Star of India. Marieke and I served on the foremast
of Star of India on the 17th and then sailed on Californian on the 18th. |
|
Assorted photos. |
HMS Surprise
HMS Surprise was originally built as a replica of HMS Rose, a 1757 frigate that played a role
in the American Revolution. Later, she was bought by 20th Century-Fox for the movie, Master
and Commander. For this role, she was reconstructed to become a replica of the 1796
frigate, HMS Surprise.
Californian
Californian is a topsail schooner and sails regularly. She is available for public day sails
most weekends as well as being available for charter. She often makes longer overnight trips
in the summer months.
| 18Aug14-20Aug14 |
Crew Trip
to Santa Catalina. No passengers. Just MMSD sail crew. |
| 11Aug15-15Aug15 |
Offshore Trip to Channel Islands
was a commercial trip to Santa Catalina, Santa Barbara and some of the Channel Islands. The trip
started off well with a nice visit to Two Harbors, but on the transit to Santa Barbara, things got rough
at the rest of the trip was converted to day sailing out of San Diego. |
|
Assorted photos. |
Elissa
Elissa is an 1877 barque based in Galveston, Texas. She is part of the Texas Seaport Museum. I've
had the great fortune to sail aboard her as part of a crew exchange with Maritime
Museum of San Diego.
| 05Apr14-06Apr14 |
Elissa - I sailed two days. The
first day, I was assigned to the foremast. On the second, I was assigned to the
mainmast. |
| 23Apr15-26Apr15 |
Elissa - I was able to make
a return visit to Elissa. This time, I sailed four days under varying conditions. |
| 15Apr16-16Apr16 |
Elissa - Once more into the breach,
dear friends. Two days of sailing in Elissa. The first day was light breezes and we set every sail. The second
was near gale conditions and a 6 foot sea. Only the lower topsl's were set. It made for an exciting day. |
| 19Mar23-23Apr23 |
Elissa - In 2023, I was hired as 3rd Mate for Elissa's sailing
series. This included a trip across the Gulf of Mexico to St. Petersburg, FL for a tall ships festival and then back to Galveston.
|
|
Assorted photos. |
Lady Washington
Lady Washington is a replica of the first American ship to visit Honolulu,
Hong Kong and Japan. Lady Washington was the first tall ship that I ever sailed on
(as a passenger) in 2004.
| 02Jan16-03Jan16 |
Lady
Washington - On the 2nd, I took the opportunity to sail as a member of the crew
aboard Lady Washington in a mock gun battle with Hawaiian Chiefttain. The next day, I was
on the crew of Californian for another mock gunbattle with Lady Washington. |
|
Assorted photos. |
San Salvador
San Salvador is a replica of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo's 1542 flagship of the same name. It was built in
San Diego from 2011 to 2016.
| Summer 2016 |
Over the summer of 2016, I was part of
San Salvador's crew for her sail training, sea trials,
and Coast Guard Certification. |
|
Assorted photos. |
RV Robert Gordon Sproul
The Robert Gordon Sproul is a coastal-class research vessel owned by the University of California and operated
by Scripps Institute of Oceanography. I worked aboard her as a Mate from 2017 to 2023. During that time, we undertook
many scientific missions, deploying, recovering and towing scientific instrument packages.