Don was looking forward to a visit to the "Balclutha", a 19th century sailing ship moored permanently at the SF National Historical Maritime Park at the north end of Fisherman's Wharf. One of his projects is to "enhance" the great non-fiction adventure by Richard Henry Dana, Two Years Before The Mast with photos and web links.
His visit to the Balclutha was intended to result in a lot of photos of ship's rigging and equipment. Unfortunately this mission was nearly a total failure. First, the Balclutha was probably 75 years newer than author Dana's ships, and second, the photography was beyond his capability. Shots of rigging were invariably too cluttered and even being there and seeing everything 3-D it was hard for an amateur to sort out braces from sheets. Moreover, all the interesting parts below decks were off limits to tourists. The explanatory graphics one finds already published are, for good reason, line drawings with clutter omitted and from an advantageous perspective. Oh well.