Maritime Museum

After Jack London penned "The Call of the Wild," he went traveling again. The American novelist who wrote so brilliantly about the brutal Klondike later turned a photographer's eye on the world aboard ships headed to exotic places like the South Pacific and the tip of South America. London chronicled those early 20th century voyages with a camera, and now 50 of his photographs are on display through Dec. 3 at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. London shot images of seaworthy scenes while traveling on a 42-foot "ketch-rigged sailboat" called the Snark bound for the South Pacific in 1907-08 and on the Dirigo en route to Cape Horn four years later.

The grave-digger says it's all about the movie. The farmers' market manager says it's about technology. And the model-ship-builder is sure it's really about people. The people in this three-minute video are talking, of course, about the Titanic and our chronic, sometimes creepy fascination with it. And they're all Haligonians. That is, they're all in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the port city whose seamen collected floating corpses and detritus after the Titanic went down. Hence the 150 Titanic victims buried in Halifax and the big display in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic on Lower Water Street.

Visitors to Fisherman's Wharf in Oxnard will soon be able to peer into the past, present and future of sailing. The Maritime Museum, which began as an idea 25 years ago, will become a reality this summer when the doors to the 5,000-square-foot museum open. The building, at Channel Islands Boulevard and Victoria Avenue, will house maritime art, ship models, computers, a library and video displays. Outside, shipbuilding demonstrations wil be offered.

After Jack London penned "The Call of the Wild," he went traveling again. The American novelist who wrote so brilliantly about the brutal Klondike later turned a photographer's eye on the world aboard ships headed to exotic places like the South Pacific and the tip of South America. London chronicled those early 20th century voyages with a camera, and now 50 of his photographs are on display through Dec. 3 at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. London shot images of seaworthy scenes while traveling on a 42-foot "ketch-rigged sailboat" called the Snark bound for the South Pacific in 1907-08 and on the Dirigo en route to Cape Horn four years later.

A New England clambake and dinner to benefit the Ventura County Maritime Museum will be staged Saturday at Fisherman's Wharf in Channel Islands Harbor by the county's seven yacht clubs. The dinner will include lobster, steamed clams, boiled shrimp and several side dishes. Other food will also be available for purchase. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 the day of the event, which will be held from noon to 6 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the yacht clubs or the Maritime Museum, 2731 S.

The Ventura County Maritime Museum will host a fund-raising buffet prior to this year's Parade of Lights in Channel Islands Harbor. The event is scheduled from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday above Cisco's Sportfishing. The event will benefit the educational programs of the museum and the U.S. Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program. The cost of admission is $55 for museum members and $65 for nonmembers.

The Ventura County Maritime Museum has moved one step closer to getting national accreditation after receiving an assessment grant from the national Institute of Museum and Library Services. The museum will use the grant money to evaluate its current operations, establish priorities to achieve professional museum standards and create ways to best serve the community.

The Ventura County Maritime Museum is looking for volunteers to begin training Sept. 4 to join the museum's docents. The 12-week sessions at the museum run from 9 to 11 a.m. every Thursday through Nov. 20 and will train volunteers to be museum tour guides and research assistants. Volunteers will be taught by experts in areas such as history of the local harbors, sailing and navigation, European maritime history, maritime art and whaling.

The Ventura County Maritime Museum and the Fisherman's Wharf Merchants Assn. are sponsoring a holiday food and toy collection. Canned goods and nonperishable food items can be deposited in the red collection barrels at the entrance to the Maritime Museum, 2731 S. Victoria Ave. The Food Share's Holiday Challenge 2002 ends New Year's Day. New unwrapped toys will be accepted inside the museum. The Toys for Tots collection ends Dec. 23. For more information, call 984-6260.

The Furnace Creek Resort in Death Valley National Park is gearing up for its season. The inn opens Oct. 7 and closes at the conclusion of Mother's Day brunch May 13 . . . . Lake Tahoe's Eighth Annual Trails and Vistas Art Hike takes place this weekend at Spooner Lake on the North Shore. There is a 2.5-mile hike, with participants pausing for music, dancing, sculpture and poetry readings. Tickets are $30 . . . . The Star of India , one of the historic ships run by the Maritime Museum of San Diego , is holding Halloween tours Oct. 15, 21, 22, 28 and 29 . . . . With the premiere of the hit HBO series “Boardwalk Empire” later this month, Atlantic City is touting its Prohibition-era past , including the Absecon Lighthouse and Dock's Oyster House . In addition, the Roaring 20s Tour, by Great American Trolley Co. , offers a four-hour blast into the past for $25 that also includes lunch  . . . . The Scottsdale Cycling Festival begins Sept.

A nice little piece on the Lucille Ball museum ["A World of Funny" by Jay Jones, July 10] but Jones might also have noted that in and about the area is the resort town of Bemus Point on Lake Chautauqua, the Chautauqua Institution itself, across the lake, and the home and museum of Roger Tory Peterson, whose "Birds of North America" is the standard reference book on the subject. I'm not from the area but passed through there a number of years ago and … discovered that there were a number of interesting things besides the Lucy museum, which, by the way, is terrific.

Finding a Father’s Day outing for Dad beyond taking in a baseball game or hitting the green can leave daughters and sons perplexed. So trying heading a bit south this weekend for a maritime tour of San Diego . Here are some attractions and happenings: -- The 21 st annual San Diego Wooden Boat Festival will take place this weekend about 10 minutes from downtown San Diego on the Point Loma peninsula, which  serves as the...

Take to the seas for Valentine’s Day during a special sailing on a special ship. The Californian, the state 's official tall ship, will dock at the Maritime Museum of San Diego and offer a three-hour " Sweetheart Sail " on Feb. 13. Passengers aboard the Californian will have an opportunity to haul a line or staff the helm during the sailing, which will end with a cannon salute. The schooner, a replica of a Gold Rush-era vessel, was built in 1984. The Sweetheart Sail will start at 12:30 p.m. It includes a keepsake picture (taken between 10:30 a.m. and noon before the sailing)

Vintage yacht race Edwardian steam yachts, built primarily between 1901 and 1910, are rare, and a race between two of these sleek vessels is even rarer. But at noon on May 15, that's just what visitors in the San Diego area will see when the 1901 Cangarda and the 1904 Medea launch from Coronado's Glorietta Bay, pass under the Coronado Bridge, steam past Shelter Island and finish at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. You can view the race from shore or aboard one of two boats: the tall ship Californian ($50 for adults, $30 for children)

LAS VEGAS Vegas Uncork'd When, where: May 6-9, various venues Highlights: The fourth annual culinary convention, presented by Bon Appétit magazine, features several of Vegas' top restaurants in more than 30 events that give attendees access to famous chefs, including Alain Ducasse, Bobby Flay, Michael Mina, Wolfgang Puck, Joël Robuchon and Guy Savoy. Cost: See website for details. A portion of proceeds benefits charities that help the hungry.

The Sequoia, that motorized, mahogany-laden yacht of eight presidents, has been a prized piece of Washington memorabilia since the federal government purchased it during Prohibition to chase down rumrunners on the Chesapeake Bay. Now it might be sold again. A maritime museum in Connecticut, Mystic Seaport, has acquired an option to purchase the 80-year-old vessel, which could mean relocating it more than 350 miles north of its current berth.

In the winter of 1864, an iron ship newly christened Euterpe after the Greek goddess of music was sailing off the coast of Wales when she suffered her first collision and subsequent mutiny. Over the years, she has been trapped in ice, been tossed by storms, caught on fire and nearly left for dead. In 1906, her name was changed to the Star of India, and by World War II there was talk of dismantling the old lady and using her for scraps.