Exploring the San Diego Maritime Museum

Odometer  67774 mi
Sunday 11/3/2019

San Diego, CA


I like all things sea going, so it was natural for me to want to go to the San Diego Maritime Museum.

Before we could get started however, I accidentally tipped over a water bottle and spilled on the keyboard of the laptop.  I am usually very guarded about liquids around the electronics, but got careless and it happened.   A few days ago I had been researching how to remove the battery in this Acer laptop to do a hard reset.  Turns out to physically remove the battery you have to take out something like 17 tiny screws and unsnap the back with a spudger.  Yep, I had to look that one up- a spudger is a tool that looks like a chop stick with a chisel point, used to pry things apart without damage or electrical shorting.  That time I also found out that this laptop has a pin hole on the back that allows one to disconnect the battery momentarily by pushing a paperclip into the hole- so that's what I did.  This time it was a lot more urgent- I quickly dried the spill, and of course I was not prepared to be getting the battery out.  After propping the laptop in a configuration I thought best for water to flow if any got in, I started removing screws, made my own spudger, and popped the back off.  I was relieved to see that no visible water had gotten in to anywhere I could see.  I left the laptop open and air dried it for a day before reassembly and I think I've gotten very lucky- I hope so anyway.

While the laptop recuperated, Joan and I took off for the Maritime Museum.  By now it was late morning and we figured on catching a lunch on the go.  Joan had researched parking and the best parking would be the County parking garage adjacent to the museum.  The only bit of information we did not have, was that the garage is under the grassy Waterfront Park.  We were searching for a mid- rise parking structure and not finding one, we finally parked at a surface lot costing $20 for 4 hours.  Now for some country rubes like us, that caused us to pause for a while.  Finally we resigned ourselves to it and I set my iPhone timer for 4 hours and we strode off.  Our plan was to head straight down hill to the water front and then north or south , whichever took us to the museum.

Red Arrow shows where we found parking

Well... the streets don't go through past the RR tracks on California Street so not consulting our google maps (and look like rubes you know) we marched north to Grape St where we could get to the park and then south what seemed like four city blocks to get to the museum.

Tall Ships  foreground HMS Surprise, background Star of India

Wow, was this worth the trip!  This collection is awesome.  The Star of India is the oldest active merchant sailing ship in the world, built in 1863.  The HMS Surprise, under my feet, is a replica of an 18th century Royal Navy Frigate.

Soviet B-39 Attack Submarine

Moored directly behind the Surprise is a B-39 Soviet Navy attack submarine of the type and style used in the Cuban missile crisis.

This one's in bad shape, the outer hull is rusted through in several areas, and a protective coating of some kind has been applied to her

Joan checks out the B-39 Foxtrot class Soviet Sub

The Soviets had a different idea on watertight bulkheads than our submarine builders of the same era.  All most all their watertight hatches were round rather than oval.  Us old folks had a tough time getting through them (It wasn't graceful at all)

Soviet  B-39 watertight hatch

The USS Dolphin submarine of the same era as the B-39 was far more finished looking inside.  the layout far more roomy and functional.

USS Dolphin submarine and PFC 816 Swift Boat at San Diego Maritime Museum

Capt'n Jeff at the periscope

The Dolphin felt much more modern in every way. 

The Dolphin was launched from Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine in 1968, and immediately set a new depth record that we are told, still holds today!  She sent the first laser communication to an aircraft, sent and received the first underwater email.
The Dolphin was the last US non-nuclear submarine and had a long career of 38 years

Control Room USS Dolphin

The ferry boat that seems to be the center of everything here at the pier, is actually a floating museum.  Your admission gets you access to everything we've talked about here, and a lot more.  There are tours you can take of the harbor that launch from here on the Swift Boat a Pilot boat, or a Revenue Cutter, for an additional fee.

The Claim Jumper restaurant at the Wyndham Hotel

Happy explorers

 We were getting famished, so we opted to head across the street to the Claim Jumper restaurant at the nearby Wyndham Hotel.  We had a very pleasant lunch while watching the lively action of the waterfront.

By now we were closing in on the 4 hour time limit on our parking space, so we decided to head back to the car. 

This is where things started to unravel and we were exposed as the rubes that we are.  We headed back up the hill on Ash Street at the opposite end of the park where we had come down from the car.  We both had different ideas of where we'd left the car and spent an agonizing 20 minutes traipsing back and forth, before I got the idea of using satellite view of the area on the iPad to look for the distinctive shape of the car park we wanted to find.  We arrived back at the car with my phone vibrating "times up" on the 4 hour timer I'd set.  Whew!  We really aren't big city people.

 Your Traveling Friends

Jeff and Joan