SF Redux: Maritime Museum

There are still a lot of experiences and stories I have not related or written about from our trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles. And since I've posted a few about museums in the last few days, I'd like to share something about a small museum that just happened to be in the same building as our hotel.

The San Francisco Maritime Museum is actually comprised of several collections, some indoors and others outdoors. The outdoor part include ships/boats and other artifacts displayed in an area just across the street from the building. The vessels are popular with tourists and get regular visitors from schools. There are organized activities for school children to be able to learn about the ships and seafaring from the guides.

Information about San Francisco's maritime history and attractions are shown in a panel board in the museum

There are several scale models on exhibit showing the different vessels that have called on the Port of San Francisco, even comparing their sizes for appreciation by visitors.

Instruments old and new like the astrolabe at the top, a telescope and GPS.

The gigantic lamp of a lighthouse is on display and I think is the highlight of the museum. The information about the lamp stated that it used to be part of a lighthouse. That lighthouse has been upgraded and it was decided to preserve the lamp in the museum.

There are many lighthouses across the Bay and these are shown in a map in the museum. Some lighthouses are located on islands of the Bay Area and there are panels relating the stories of the people who committed themselves and their families to the hard life on the islands in order to guide various vessels towards the ports in the Bay Area.

Explanation of one instrument on display at the museum

The Standard Tide Gauge on display and described in the previous photo

Scale model of an island off the coast from San Francisco where a lighthouse station was established

Obviously, shipbuilding tools

The Philippines should have its own maritime museum considering our rich history in relation to the sea. I believe we have the best seafarers in the world based on the fact that so many of them are currently employed by many companies including giants NYK and Maersk. Filipinos and Filipinas comprise the staffs/crews of various ships ranging from supertankers, to container carriers, to luxury liners or even the tourist catamarans we rode in San Francisco. I am sure that we could put up very nice museums (yes, not just one) in major cities in the country like Manila, Cebu, Iloilo and Davao where we can showcase our maritime history and heritage. We could have our very own seafarers speak to school children for the younger generations to learn about seafaring and maritime transport.

-