Balclutha

The Balclutha is a 301 foot long, square-rigged ship that was built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1886. The ship was used to haul California wheat to Europe. Crew would live on board for months at a time as the vessel made its voyage around the challenging Cape Horn.

I walked through the Balclutha yesterday. The ship served its purpose well and remains a testament to a different age with different challenges. However, someone purchased the ship and decided it would be commercially useful to masquerade the Balclutha as a pirate ship. The ship was towed up and down the West Coast for exhibitions.

The San Francisco Maritime Museum purchased the ship in 1954 and it is on display at Hyde Street Pier. Here is a picture I took of the Balclutha.