CALIFORNIA
"A ship properly invested as a museum or set up as a display sends out emanations of lore, humanity, history, adventure, geography, art, literature . ... " Karl Kortum No master plan summoned them lo the important work they do today. No famous mayor, no powerfu.l corporation ordained their presence. But quietly, through the efforts of many and the vision of a few, they have come back over time's horizon-these ships o( another age that infuse new purpose and new life into the waterfronts of the great Cai(ornia seaports o( San Francisco and San Diego. More than ships were saved in this redeeming act. New !tfe has flowed into these city wate1fronts, because people, who bring life, care about the ships. Old skills, priceless learning in the generational experience of man, are saved, and in lively fashion- the skills are urgently needed to keep the ships in being! A sense of the high endeavor, tall dreams and hard work that built our West Coast cities is saved. And a sense that the voyaging that brought us lo this coast really mattered ... and that ii is not complete, that we are a voyaging people still, with our voyage still lo make. There 's a saving thought! Dream on, ships of California! Gi-eal things came of your voyaging through untamed seas in a wider world than that of our city streets and suburban lawns; important things come of your silent voyaging through time today, and will tomorrow.
The jilil-rigged sh1/1 Balclutha/aces the morning in San Francisco. Photo: William E. Burgess, Jr.
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SEA HISTORY, SUMMER 1977