Boats and sailing have a long history. We wanted to see what sailing is like, so for our first experience we took a tall ship adventure ride in San Diego Bay.
What is a Tall Ship?
A tall ship, as its name implies, is a large sailing vessel rigged with more than one sail. Having more than one sail makes the tall ship versatile in the water.
Here’s another view that demonstrates how our vessel has more than one sail.
Mariners of old relied on the tall ship for transport. Here’s a view from our vessel of the other tall ships docked at the San Diego Bay waterfront.
Shakespeare is credited for first using the term ‘tall ship’ in literature, specifically in his play The Merchant of Venice. Then British poet laureate John Masefield furthered the romanticism of the vessel in his poem “Sea Fever,” where he states: “And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by…”
Here is a view of the San Diego downtown skyline from our tall ship.
What’s in the hold? The hold is storage space. Here we are looking through a window to peer inside the hold.
Our tall ship had a cannon. Here’s a view through the cannon porthole. Across the bay we could see, besides other sailing vessels, a United States Navy aircraft carrier. The tall ship’s cannon seems anachronistic when viewed with that USN carrier.
Our tall ship can fire its cannons! We were given ear protection to muffle the booming cannonade. Here we are fiddling with the ear protection gear.
It is fascinating to see how much naval technology has changed over the centuries, particularly since tall ships were in vogue during the Age of Sail (from the 16th- to the 19th-century). See how the aircraft carrier looks in the background compared to the tall ship’s design in the foreground? Historically, the naval Age of Sail is said to have begun with the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 then went on decline after the Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862. If you want to learn more about the Battle of Hampton Roads, consider visiting the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, which is an official museum of the United States Navy. Another great resource is the Naval History and Heritage Command website.
Meanwhile, the aircraft carrier we are seeing across San Diego Bay is the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). It was named after one of our favorite historical giants, US President Ronald Reagan. The carrier we see is a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier. She is the ninth ship of her class serving the United States Navy.
And on the other side of the bay, we saw some dolphins. The carrier in the background behind the dolphins is the USS Midway (CV-41). It is not nuclear-powered. In fact, it is now a museum. And as we can see from the dolphins, they seem at ease in San Diego Bay.
Here are a couple more views of the USS Midway (CV-41) in San Diego Bay, with the Coronado Bridge in the background. The USS Midway was commissioned in 1945 and remained the largest vessel in the world until 1955. It was decommissioned in 1992 then became a museum.
Eventually it was time to return to shore. Here’s a view of the efforts of our tall ship’s crew. If you, too, want a tall ship adventure ride in Southern California, visit the Maritime Museum of San Diego for their sailing schedule and rates.
We hope you enjoyed our blog post and that you, too, have been inspired to take your own tall ship adventure ride as well.
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