San Diego Bay lighted both naturally and unnaturally

It's the holiday season in San Diego. I was missing the snow and cold of winter until I went to see the 'Parade of Lights' on the bay Sunday night and realize how nice it is here this time of year. Back in the Midwest the Mississippi and the Missouri would be mostly frozen by now!
This is a favorite little hidden corner between the Convention Center and Embarcadero Marina Park - South. A glimpse of lingering autumn?

Anyhow, I got to downtown rather early at the cost of missing the football game. :oP I was rewarded by views like these, though...

Embarcadero Marina Park - South, looking northeast toward the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel.

The Fishing Pier jutting into the San Diego Bay at the tip of the park

It doesn't get any more romantic a setting than this, does it?

This was the 38th edition of the Parade of Light and quite a few San Diegans showed up to cheer on the procession of lighted boats of every denomination (there were even some lighted kayaks out there along with the yachts, sail boats, and tall ships!)... after having watched the San Diego Chargers snatched victory from the charging jaws of the Cincinnati Bengals to clinch their NFL division, of course.

In the background is the lighted San Diego-Coronado Bridge.

So... if you hear "Go Chargers!" being roared around in the midst of all the Christmas noels being sung in the clip below, now you know why.


Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to one and all!
Joyeux Noël à tous!
Frohe Weihnachten an Alle!
Buon Natale a tutti!

Cannon battles on San Diego Bay (Sept 2009)

Been busy moving and didn't get around to posting this... from the last weekend of September rather than this first weekend of October. The Maritime Museum had another good smoke cannon shoot out between the Californian (the State's official tall ship) and the visiting Lynx.



I'm afraid both ships were staying up in the Crescent area close to Harbor Island, so I, stuck at the end of Broadway Pier and way too lazy to walk that far up, didn't have very good shots of them. The video parts of the clip were as close as I could get it (this cheap-ish camera can't zoom that far).


The revenue cutter Californian is the taller ship with cleaner (ahem.. or whiter, if you will) sails. The priveteer Lynx is a bit smaller, but no less feisty. They were shooting at anything that moved.... cruise ships and yachts included.

A visitation from Nina: More historic sail ship in San Diego

There is another truly historic ship in town this month here in San Diego. The Nina, built by the Columbus Foundation in 1990, is now in port at Kona Kai Marina on Shelter Island for 13 days (she's leaving on Feb 16th).This is supposedly the most historically accurate replica of Christopher Columbus' Nina (of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria fame). The original ship made the complete round trip with him from Genoa to the New World (actually they landed on Hispaniola in the Caribbean) and back. Then on Columbus' 2nd trip, he made her his flag ship. Reportedly they were so dedicated on getting this replica right they actually used the original 15th century building method.... all done by hand! That makes this Nina a truly fascinating floating museum! She's open to the public from tomorrow until February 15th from 9AM - 5PM (fee is $5 per adult, $4 per senior, $3 per student, free for kids 4 yrs old and under).

Cannon Battles on San Diego Bay 2009

Well, today (Sunday January 25th) was both cloudy and windy. The sea was over-enthusiastic for a good send off for the last Cannon Battles on San Diego Bay show of the year (courtesy of the Maritime Museum), I suppose. I hung around at the tip of Broadway Pier on the Embarcadero in Downtown for a while until the wind got inside my sweater and shirt. Four tall ships were anticipating this weekend; the HMS Surprise (a replica of an 18th Century Royal Navy frigate), the revenue cutter Californian (the state's official tall ship), the privateer Lynx, and the schooner Amazing Grace. The last three were carrying paid passengers... Yours truly wasn't one of them since I haven't got $35 to spare at the moment. Anyhow, I got a few good photos off it and put them together into a slide show....



Just as the clock ticked to 1PM start time, they were off in hot pursue of the HMS Surprise, who made a beeline South, scattering the many yachts, sail boats, harbor cruisers, and various waterfowls in the area. The tiny but adorably feisty Amazing Grace tailed her everywhere as the bigger revenue Californian and Lynx took a while to get into their rhythm. Once warmed up, though, the Californian proved delightfully tricker happy and shot at just about every tall ship in sight. The bangs reverberated through skyscrapers-filled Downtown until 4PM closing time. I wish we wouldn't have to wait a whole year for the next round... That was fun!