In November of 2018, we traveled to San Diego, California and one of our stops was to visit the Steam Ferry Berkeley, and look into some of the reported haunted claims about this ship. Little did we know, Marianne would get a treasure from the ship.
The Berkeley is an 1898 steam ferryboat that operated for 60 years on San Francisco Bay. A California State Historic Landmark, and a National Historic Landmark. She is, in a word, "irreplaceable."
Berkeley's importance to the Maritime Museum cannot be overstated. Aboard the vessel are the museum's offices, a major maritime research library, workshop, model shop, the museum store, special events venue with room for 800 guests, and numerous dry storage and archive areas.
To find out more about the ship, check out our video below.
We didn't go on a full tour of the ship when we were there, since we were limited on time during this stop, but Marianne did strike up a conversation with a gentleman that was working on the ship. We believe that this could of been the owner, but are not 100% certain. The were working on replacing some of the rotted floor boards, and Marianne asked if they are throwing away the old ones, if she could have a small piece. The response was, "I will do you one better," and she was giving an original bolt that was used to bolt down the floor boards. Which goes to prove, you never know what kind of treasures you will get unless you ask.
Well back to the original reason for our stop at this location. Over the years, there have been countless staff reports of bizarre activity aboard the ship. Some staff have reported not wanting to be alone on the Berkeley. Strange voices heard throughout the evening after hours, shadow apparitions, doors slamming, footsteps, objects being misplaced and later re-appearing. You know, all those interesting things we go looking for during our travels. So, now you can see why we had to stop here.
If you are in the San Diego area and down by the maritime museum, make sure you take moment and stop by the Steam Ferry Berkeley and check it out for yourself. Let us know down in the comment section if you have been here or plan on visiting in the future. We would love to hear about your experiences.
