It was one of those unexpected and memorable experiences on our 2018 West Coast trip, the 1898 Berkeley Steam Ferryboat at the Maritime Museum in San Diego. A pleasant morning walk on Harbor Drive alongside the San Diego Bay, with hardly any tourists we quickly paid our admission fee and boarded the Maritime Museum’s historic ferryboat. The main deck and lower decks were beautifully restored, and I appreciated the opportunity to closely inspect the riveted hull sections below deck. Recently, while editing pictures from our visit, I re-discovered that some of the steel structural sections were from the Pencoyd Iron Works.
Maritime Museum in San Diego: “Berkeley has a unique historical and architectural significance that is reminiscent of the Victorian Age. She is the finest example of a 19th century ferryboat afloat. The Berkeley’s hull underwent a revolutionary hull restoration process during the spring of 2003 that is expected to last for 50 years and may serve as the benchmark for the preservation of historic iron and steel hulled ships around the world.”
