Holiday Update
So, I've actually heard more British accents here in San Francisco than I did in England. Of course it is very cheap for Brits to come to the States now. Lucky buggers.
So, the Festival of Sail was/is pretty darn awesome. Unfortunately, for the Parade of Sail, we were on a very small boat near the end of the parade behind Lynx who was showing off her Mad Skillz by firing salutes at the shore. But the distressing thing is, the boat were were on (whose name I shall not share to save her the embarrassment) had a crew that knew how to do absolutely nothing. They coiled in their hands (which I'm not saying is necessarily wrong just because my museum coils on the deck), which lead to people coiling both clockwise and anti-clockwise, which gets confusing when you have to throw the line down. They also belayed completely wrong, crossing the pin, and coming from behind the rail, and all matter of horrible things. Also finishing the belay as if it were a cleat and just placing the coil on the pin instead of making a handle and hanging the coil from it. I saw only one crewmember who was able to coil and belay properly.
I think that's all I needed to rant about.
Yesterday, we went to tour all the ships. USCGC Eagle is quite possibly the most beautiful ship ever. It's amazing to see how very modern she is, but is still a sailing ship and sails as much as she can. And she was just completely shiney and absolutely perfect. All the coils were the same size and distance away from the deck, and everything was just in perfect place. I can't wait to sail on her at the end of the summer.
Also saw HMS Bounty, who is also a very pretty ship; nicely painted and just rather perfect.
And... I went aboard just about every ship there. Couldn't go on Lynx or Californian 'cos they were preparing for a battle sail, but I see a lot of Lynx anyway and can go on Californian whenever.
Went aboard Niña, a replica of a 1492 Columbus ship. She's rather lulzy compared to the other ships that are centures ahead in design.
We also went to San Francisco's maritime museum, who's hosting the whole event. Now, their displays, exhibits, and general design of everything is absolutely brilliant. I wish my museum would be that great with design, but they don't have enough people involved in taking care of the ships. Balclutha has absolutely no running rigging and little standing rigging. It's depressing.
But I feel so uber-proud of my wonderful museum down in San Diego.
(I'll get pictures from the festival up as soon as I get home!)
And today, we walked to the Exploratorium and had fun with all the science-y stuff and tried to avoid many little children.
And! I got an Adipose!
So, the Festival of Sail was/is pretty darn awesome. Unfortunately, for the Parade of Sail, we were on a very small boat near the end of the parade behind Lynx who was showing off her Mad Skillz by firing salutes at the shore. But the distressing thing is, the boat were were on (whose name I shall not share to save her the embarrassment) had a crew that knew how to do absolutely nothing. They coiled in their hands (which I'm not saying is necessarily wrong just because my museum coils on the deck), which lead to people coiling both clockwise and anti-clockwise, which gets confusing when you have to throw the line down. They also belayed completely wrong, crossing the pin, and coming from behind the rail, and all matter of horrible things. Also finishing the belay as if it were a cleat and just placing the coil on the pin instead of making a handle and hanging the coil from it. I saw only one crewmember who was able to coil and belay properly.
I think that's all I needed to rant about.
Yesterday, we went to tour all the ships. USCGC Eagle is quite possibly the most beautiful ship ever. It's amazing to see how very modern she is, but is still a sailing ship and sails as much as she can. And she was just completely shiney and absolutely perfect. All the coils were the same size and distance away from the deck, and everything was just in perfect place. I can't wait to sail on her at the end of the summer.
Also saw HMS Bounty, who is also a very pretty ship; nicely painted and just rather perfect.
And... I went aboard just about every ship there. Couldn't go on Lynx or Californian 'cos they were preparing for a battle sail, but I see a lot of Lynx anyway and can go on Californian whenever.
Went aboard Niña, a replica of a 1492 Columbus ship. She's rather lulzy compared to the other ships that are centures ahead in design.
We also went to San Francisco's maritime museum, who's hosting the whole event. Now, their displays, exhibits, and general design of everything is absolutely brilliant. I wish my museum would be that great with design, but they don't have enough people involved in taking care of the ships. Balclutha has absolutely no running rigging and little standing rigging. It's depressing.
But I feel so uber-proud of my wonderful museum down in San Diego.
(I'll get pictures from the festival up as soon as I get home!)
And today, we walked to the Exploratorium and had fun with all the science-y stuff and tried to avoid many little children.
And! I got an Adipose!