Jeremiah O’Brien goes to Dry Dock

Back in January, I was invited to ride on the Jeremiah O’Brien for its trip to dry dock for repairs, cleaning and repainting.  The JO’B is one of the last surviving Liberty Ships from WWII, now converted to a museum, permanently docked in San Francisco.

We left at 5:30, before dawn, on a cold and rainy morning.  The heaving ship and dark conditions forced me to work at maximum ISO to freeze the action with mostly sub-1-second shots, as tugboats shoved us around SF’s waterfront, from Fisherman’s Wharf to the BAE shipyards at Pier 70.  It was a really fun and surreal experience, definitely out of my element.

Pre-departure, from the Flying Bridge

Sagittarian and Bearcat

Pushing Sag

Tugs and Alcatraz

Ghost on Deck

Dawn Skyline

Liquid Gold

Ugh, too much daylight!!  At this point I had to huddle in a dark corner below deck and wait until sundown.  I’ll be back soon with a buncha night images of the O’Brien in drydock.  Stay tuned.