The Chilean Navy tall ship, BE Esmeralda, is in the San Diego port this week on one of its stops along the west coast. It stopped in Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico before San Diego. After this, it will head to San Francisco, British Columbia, Hawaii and Tahiti before going home to Valparaiso, Chile. What a fun year-long trip for those sailors!
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| The Esmeralda is the second tallest sailing ship in the world and was built in 1946. |
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| Yes, I waited in that line for an hour (along with my very talkative docent friend from the museum, so I wasn't one bit bored) |
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| I learned the word land lubber comes from the word for the area next to the platform on the mast where all the lines go through, called the lubber. I'm not sure what it has to do with the term though. |
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| Some of the sailors |
These training ships are also used as a sort of "floating ambassador" to their country, and the docent I was with told me that when he was in the U.S. Navy, they would only pick the tallest, most handsome men for these journeys. It was obvious the Chilean Navy does the same, and not only that, they also have 80 women on this trip, evidently a big step up from previous voyages.
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| There is always some controversy whenever this ship travels because it was apparently used as a jail and/or torture center during the Pinochet era. (Clearly, it is no longer in that position, so why not enjoy it as it is now?) |
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| You have to climb on the net to deal with those lines, and it's a long way down if you fall. They do wear a sort of harness with a simple carabiner though. |
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| the Andean condor figurehead |
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| Here's a picture that's not mine, but shows the nice sails out |
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