MamaCez: SF Maritime National Historical Park

(My continuing summer 'field trip' series.)

The ships are on the Hyde Street Pier across from Ghiradelli Square. The Pier was built in 1922 for automobile ferries between SF and Sausalito. The only way to drive north from SF was to cross the bay on a ferryboat. This ferry route was a part of Highway 101 until the Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937. Today the Pier is home to various historic vessels where you can board and see first hand what it did and how people lived on them.

There were four vessels we could check out: a ferry, schooner, ship and tugboat. We explored all of them except the tugboat.

First was the Eureka, a steam-engined ferry. Originally built to ferry trains across the bay, this vessel was rebuilt in 1922 to serve passengers and automobiles. They had classic cars and trucks displayed on the lower deck. This ferryboat has two wheelhouses one on each side of the ship.

Next, we saw a 100-year old schooner, the CA Thayer, a three-masted schooner which was under restoration due to rapid disintegration. Thayer is one of only two West Coast lumber schooners left in existence. This schooner was the first lumber schooner to haul Douglas fir and other raw materials to various cities in California.

Last, we saw the 1886 ship, Balclutha. This cargo ship was built in Great Britain and brought coal and general cargo from Europe and returning with California grain. The crew lived on board for months at a time during the treacherous voyage around Cape Horn. Later the Balclutha went on to supply Alaska fisheries in the late 1800s and early 1900s carrying men and supplies to canneries and bringing back salmon.

The deck house contained the galley, carpenter shop as well as the quarters for apprentices and the bosun, sailmaker, carpenter and cook who were considered among the hardest workers of the crew.

This was the kitchen and the cook lived and slept right next to this room.

Cook's teeny tiny room next to the kitchen.


A livestock pen was located right next to the cook's quarters and kitchen. It was necessary to carry livestock and chickens to provide fresh meat and eggs during long voyages.

On the Balcutha, the most hated task at sea was pumping water out of a leaky vessel. It was a regular part of the days' work on these wooden ships. Pumping was hard, monotonous work.

These were the crew members living quarters. Some could not fit an average-sized man. The spaces were narrow and short.

This bunk area was always wet and cold. Not a 5-star establishment.

The captain's wife made due with what she had on the long voyages on the ship. She created a little parlor on the ship that reminded her of home. (Not that she had anyone to entertain on the voyage.)

The Chinese Exclusion Act made it impossible for most Chinese to immigrate so one option was to join the "China Gang" workers who boarded the ships to do manual labor: they gutted and cleaned the salmon by hand. These men were crammed on the forward end of the ship segregated by ethnicity. They persevered despite the harsh living conditions and repressive labor practices. There was unequal treatment amongst the different ethnicities. The Chinese were at the bottom of the social scale.. ate in rusty tin dishes, got two meals a day without butter, fruit, dessert, vegetables and milk. They had to buy jam and butter while it was free to the Italian and Scandinavian crewmen who lived above deck.