Ships... and stuff...
Tuesday, we decided to take in this floating ship museum thingy they have down at the Harbor.
We decided to take in the Star of India and see an older boat first. A pleasant surprise was in store for us. We climb the plank and there were all these people around. Because Nick is taller, he spotted that guy that does those dirty jobs on tv. Nick went below deck to look around, me... I took pictures like a paparazzi fool. I mean a star sighting of Mike Rowe actually shooting footage for an upcoming program.
I toured around below the deck and looked at all the interesting stuff having to do with boats. Then we went back up to the deck and I took more pictures. I wasn't quite sure what the dirty job was. Nick explained this little chair thing and how it hoisted people to the top of the mast.
We went to the next ship. It was older and depicted some different stuff of the sea fearing trade. The bunks were quite tiny. People must have been tiny back then.
There was a lady that was restoring the wheel. This was also a good place to take pictures of what Mike was doing. They hoisted him up to the top of the mast. From what the lady said (I think she was a lesbian... doesn't matter.. just sayin, for color and such...), Mike was going up there to grease the little rings around the mast and tar something. So, that is where the dirty part comes. He was greasing a pole. Let me say this again. He was greasing a pole.
So, I snapped more pictures. They are on the memory card and once I get home. I will share these photos.
We continued to the Russian sub and to the ferry. The sub was interesting. I don't know how men worked and lived on it without going insane. The ferry was neat. There was a lot of wood on it they were restoring. The grain in the wood was interesting. They put a shiny coat of marine varnish on it. It was rather pretty. All the wood work was rather pretty on the ships.
We went back to the Star of India to see what Mike was doing. He appeared to be done with his job. The camera man was trying to get down. He did what mike was doing minus the grease. He sat up on the top sail, feet on a rope, hooked to another rope for fall protection. I always wondered where the camera man was for these shoots. Oh, and Mike has this handy cam thing he does. It was quite interesting, he filmed a great deal of stuff with it.
After that... we went to the big ship, the Midway. That was interesting as well. No star sightings, but it was interesting to know that the Persian Gulf War was commanded from the Midway and that it was in use a mere 16 years ago. This one had a bit more room to walk around on. Nick banged his head a couple of times as he was taller than the normal person. It was interesting to see the quarters and the accommodations for each rank. We didn't do the headphones. We just walked around. The tour to the bridge of the ship was informative. They did this with a live person. We didn't take our pictures either. They were $20 for 2.. and frankly, it was a cash cow for the Midway enterprises.
It was a lovely time on the ships and if you come to San Diego, you must do these. It all sounds quite trite, but it was interesting, even for someone not as sea going as myself.