Building the San Salvador
Building the San Salvador Tourist Attraction in San Diego. Party like it’s 1542! Entertainment doesn’t come cheap these days; a matinee at the movies will run you as much as a nice meal at a decent restaurant. It makes you want to go back to a time where $5 would be enough for a movie and snacks, well, maybe just one snack, but you get the point. How about witnessing history being made, or re-created, live and in person for just $5? After a visit to the San Diego Maritime Museum you could find yourself literally lost in time, in the great age of exploration, for just that- $5!
What’s old has become new, not just for history buffs and maritime fanatics, for old and young alike to experience firsthand the historic process of ship building unlike any other. The San Diego Maritime Museum, and a host of volunteers, are bringing to life the real challenges, obstacles and triumphs of the complete and total accurate replication the 1500’s exploration ship the San Salvador. As children we all grew up learning in school about Christopher Columbus and the founding of America at Plymouth Rock. The story of the Pilgrims and Indians sharing a meal of “thanks” was not the beginning of American History for those of us on the West Coast however. The rich Golden State of California was in fact discovered by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo some eighty years earlier sailing aboard the original San Salvador.
San Salvador Tourist Attraction
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo
The process of watching history being made before your very eyes is a fleeting opportunity at the Spanish Landing area of the San Diego Maritime Museum, where blacksmithing and sail making are also demonstrated. Complex issues such as the use of ten different kinds of wood, is a process that leaves you amazed how a vessel like this could have ever been built in the mid 1500’s by a mere crew of no more than 100 Spanish workers and without the invention of power tools! This fully functional replica of the galleon measures 92 feet long, 24 feet wide and upon completion will set sail as an educational flagship traveling the West Coast as living museum and ambassador for West Coast history and more specifically our beloved San Diego.
Construction of the ship so far has required over 10 thousand pounds of hand selected wood, meticulous in detail yet retrofitted for safety regulations of today. Once this endeavor is completed the ship will be able to charter small groups with modern luxuries not available in the 1500’s such as toilets, refrigeration, radios and two large diesel engines.
If you happened to drive by Spanish Landing Park in the Port of San Diego and thought you saw people building an ark and if you have $5 in your pocket, stop and observe the historical process of rebuilding the San Salvador, which is just as amazing as witnessing what was once the most powerful vessel in all of the Pacific Ocean exploring our beautiful waterways.
Join San Diego Boat Tours for a cruise to see all the historic sites of San Diego Bay on one of out luxury yachts. Whether a private charter or a corporate event – we can show you a great time!
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The sea, the great unifier, is man’s only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat. (Jacques Yves Cousteau, June 1910 – June 1997)
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