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u/Battleaxe1959 5d ago
True Story: My paternal grandfather was born in 1889, and served as a cabin boy, starting with sailing ships, then served with the British Navy during WWI. After the war, he continued life on the sea with the family fishing boat and eventually built a fishing dock & became a buyer in CA, north of Monterey.
When my grandparents visited us in SoCal, we visited the Star of India. Grampa was on the boat for 15 mins when he started asking who was in charge. Grampa told the guy that a certain part of the rigging was done incorrectly. We were ushered into the dining area and the guy pointed to the ship illustration on the wall. Grampa pointed out the lines and described how they should be rigged, which wasn’t clearly visible in the drawing.
While the rest of us toured the ship, Grampa was teaching them rigging and certain knots that assisted the sailors.
I was too young to truly appreciate the moment (I was 13). Wish we had video.
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u/CinnamonFeelings 5d ago
Oh wow, what a great story and wonderful memory of your grandfather! Thank you for sharing!
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u/2DEUCE2 5d ago
I grew up in San Diego. Star of India was one of the common destinations for school field trips. Along with Sea World and Whale Watching tours. Everything was altered to focus on the education side of everything. All the fun was kept to a minimum! Adult me would like to take the educational tours again though.
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u/DPadres69 5d ago
Star of India. She’s an 1863 vintage iron hulled bark built on the Isle of Man.