| On July 28, 2005, a parade of tall ships was going to take place in the San Francisco Bay. We decided to see this spectacle by taking the ferry across from Oakland to Pier 39. It was still early in the day, so we walked past Fisherman's Wharf to the Hyde Street Pier. The pier is now part of the Maritime Museum with an old ferry that used to cross the bay, and the fully rigged "Balcutha", a steel sailing ship that used to go around Cape Horn to Europe and back. To see the parade of ships we found a good spot with a slightly raised platform. Across the water we could see Alcatraz and Angel Island. Perfect !! |
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| Leading the parade was one of the SF Fire Department's boats with all its canons blasting. Shortly thereafter sailed the 270 foot barque from Mexico "Cuauhtamoc". A nice start. |
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| The Potomac was the only motorized ship in the formal parade. It was once the private yacht of President Theodore Roosevelt and has an interesting history. (Click here if you are interested in more details). |
| Next came a number of schooners and a sleek looking sloop with only its genoa flying. There was a good breeze blowing from the west, but since this was not a race, several boats had their sails trimmed in order to maintain the slow pace. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised if the larger ships had their auxiliary engines idling in reverse. |
| The last and most magnificent ship was the Parada, a 356 foot brig from Russia with it's fourteen starboard guns aimed at San Francisco. It was followed by a number of private sailboats that wanted to be part of the scene. |
| Afterwards we had a bite of late lunch and a glass of wine. We bought some French bread at Boudin, took a trolley to the Ferry Building and a ride home. |
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| If anyone is interested in more pictures of old sailing ships that came to San Francisco, here is a great web site you might want to see: http://tallshipsofsanfrancisco.com/index.html |