Leg 2 - CREW IN DAY
TIME: 1900
DATE: May 24, 2009
LOCATION: PIER 39 Marina, San Francisco, CA
My crew arrived today - my mom (back for a second leg) and her friend Phil Johnson. Our plan is to leave the marina tomorrow morning at 0600 for what should be a 12 hour run south to Monterey. The weather report looks good and I've prepared the route (using a software program called Nobeltec) in advance. The engine room checks are complete so all we have to do is wake up (at about 0530) and get going.
Before the crew arrived, I toured the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien - a World War II "Liberty Ship". Liberty Ships were a class of cargo ship that was mass produced during WWII. More than 2700 were built. Towards the end of their run, a complete ship could be built in 42 days! Imagine that. It takes me that long to get an oil change!
Anyway, the Jeremiah O'Brien actually participated in the Normandy invasion in 1944. Just before being mothballed and scrapped (as was the fate of all but two Liberty ships), a foundation was formed to save the O'Brien. In 1980, she was overhauled and entered services as a tour ship, based in her current location in San Francisco. In 1994, the remaining crew of the O'Brien thought it might be fun to go for a little cruise so they raised the money and sailed the O'Brien from San Francisco all the way back to Normandy to take part in the official 50th anniversary of D-Day. While on the other side of the Atlantic, they visited several ports in France and Great Britain before returning to San Francisco.
Today, once a month, the O'Brien takes guests out for a cruise on San Francisco Bay. Still functional after all those years. Truly remarkable.
My tour was a blast. Compared to the submarine, there's acres of space. The crew quarters were reasonably large. The engine room is a full four stories tall. The propulsion is diesel-powered steam engines. The ship had done her monthly cruise a couple of days before my tour but the engines and the engine room were still warm.
One last thing - James Cameron recorded hours of underway sounds on the O'Brien for use in his movie "Titanic". When the Titannic's engineer throws the engines in reverse in a desparate, but futile, attempt to avoid the iceberg, the sounds you hear are the actual sounds of the Jeremiah O'Brien's engines being thrown into reverse!
Crowds today at least as big as yesterday.
More to come tomorrow . . . .
DATE: May 24, 2009
LOCATION: PIER 39 Marina, San Francisco, CA
My crew arrived today - my mom (back for a second leg) and her friend Phil Johnson. Our plan is to leave the marina tomorrow morning at 0600 for what should be a 12 hour run south to Monterey. The weather report looks good and I've prepared the route (using a software program called Nobeltec) in advance. The engine room checks are complete so all we have to do is wake up (at about 0530) and get going.
Before the crew arrived, I toured the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien - a World War II "Liberty Ship". Liberty Ships were a class of cargo ship that was mass produced during WWII. More than 2700 were built. Towards the end of their run, a complete ship could be built in 42 days! Imagine that. It takes me that long to get an oil change!
Anyway, the Jeremiah O'Brien actually participated in the Normandy invasion in 1944. Just before being mothballed and scrapped (as was the fate of all but two Liberty ships), a foundation was formed to save the O'Brien. In 1980, she was overhauled and entered services as a tour ship, based in her current location in San Francisco. In 1994, the remaining crew of the O'Brien thought it might be fun to go for a little cruise so they raised the money and sailed the O'Brien from San Francisco all the way back to Normandy to take part in the official 50th anniversary of D-Day. While on the other side of the Atlantic, they visited several ports in France and Great Britain before returning to San Francisco.
Today, once a month, the O'Brien takes guests out for a cruise on San Francisco Bay. Still functional after all those years. Truly remarkable.
My tour was a blast. Compared to the submarine, there's acres of space. The crew quarters were reasonably large. The engine room is a full four stories tall. The propulsion is diesel-powered steam engines. The ship had done her monthly cruise a couple of days before my tour but the engines and the engine room were still warm.
One last thing - James Cameron recorded hours of underway sounds on the O'Brien for use in his movie "Titanic". When the Titannic's engineer throws the engines in reverse in a desparate, but futile, attempt to avoid the iceberg, the sounds you hear are the actual sounds of the Jeremiah O'Brien's engines being thrown into reverse!
Crowds today at least as big as yesterday.
More to come tomorrow . . . .
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