(above, left to right) steam Jerry Berkeley, Soviet submarine B-3 9, "HMS" Surprise, Srnr of India. The San Diego waterfront as seen from the harbor in 2 005 (a bove) and 1952 (below).
In addirio n to rh e ships, rh e Maririme Museum of San Diego maintains rhe MacMullen Library and Research Archives, which is open to all scholars and researchers. The museum publishes a newsletter, Fu!! & By, for members, and publishes rhe peer-reviewed Mains'! Hauf, a rhemed journal rhat comes our at least rwice per year, covering topics in Pacific coasr maritime history. Th e museum also publishes books when an idea strikes that is timely and fundin g and/or a partnership is at hand. C urrently, they are wo rking on a book on rhe Kettenb urg Boat Works and will be co-publishing it with Mys ti c Seaport. Preserving historic ships is clearly importanr to rhe museum. The folks in San Diego, however, rake chis rwo sreps further. By taking their vessels away from rhe dock under their own power, even here and there, they preserve, not only the physical srructures themselves, but the skills needed to do the wo rk. Volunteers and staff learn carpentry, sailmaking, rigging, engineering, welding, painting, and caulking, amongsr orher specialized skills, ro properly mainrain and operate the vessels in their care. Somerhing as simple as setting sails ar rhe dock, as rhey do d aily on Star ofIndia, requires a gro up of people trained to set them and, even more so, srrike rhem on a moment's norice. This rask benefits rhe museum in several ways. The mosr obvious is visibility. Wirh sails set to the upper topsails, Star ofIndia is that much more easy to spor on the San Diego wa terfront. The museum's execurive director, Raymond As hley, has found that they experience a noti ceable increase in visirarion when rhe sails are set. Keep ing a weather eye, they even keep sails set through the night. When asked what happens if the wind picks up in rhe wee hours, Ashley was pleased ro say thar he isn'r the only one wirh an eye on the wearher; in 11th e past, when they have needed to srrike sail in the nighr, sraff a nd volunteers have materi alized on rh e warerfront out of rhe darkness withour having
SEA HISTORY 120, AUTUMN 2007
to be called. In ten years, o nly once has a sail blown our from being ser too long in a sriff breeze. When the museum's leaders analyzed the cosrs in terms of crew time and wear and tear on the sails, rhey determi ned that rhe increase in visitation and attention more than ourweighed the altemarive. Anorher conrentious debate revolves aro und rhose who think ships are best preserved while tied to the dock or moved to a dry berth of some sort-thar taking them out to sea purs rhese artifacrs ar unnecessary risk. In San Diego, Ashley and his sraff pay careful artention to changes in the wea ther and in crew training to reduce this risk. The payoff is manifested in higher standards of ship maintenance and greater enthusiasm from volunteers, rhe lifeblood of rhe museum. Readying a vessel for sea requires work on a higher level compared to a ship rhat never leaves rhe dock. No rhing morivares people to perform berter in rheir work more than being needed. The museum's core of volunteers are a hearty enthusiastic group.
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