Mark your calendar for Friday, June 26 when the Catalina Island Museum has teamed up with the San Diego Maritime Museum to host a lecture and ship's visit of the Californian, the official tall ship of the State of California.

The Californian will be visiting Avalon all day on the 26th which marks the end of an 11-day voyage and visit to each of the eight Channel Islands.  This is a remarkable voyage and the lucky passengers aboard the ship will join a very small and select crowd that can say they have visited each of the Channel Islands.  Many of the islands are owned and managed by the U.S. military and as such are closed to visitors.  The San Diego Maritime Museum organized this unique voyage which ends in a day-long visit to Catalina.  They kindly called the staff of the Catalina Island Museum to offer community and museum members a chance to come aboard and explore the open decks of the ship during their visit.

The Californian is a replica of the 1847 Revenue Cutter C.W. Lawrence, that patrolled the coast of California enforcing federal law during the gold rush. The Revenue Cutter Service, along with four other federal maritime agencies, was consolidated into the US Coast Guard in 1915.  The ship will be open to visits from 12:30 to 4 p.m. on Friday, June 26.  The visit is free except for the cost of a shoreboat ride to and from the ship.  Shoreboats can be requested at the Island Navigation float at the end of the Pleasure Pier.

That evening, Ray Ashley, director of the San Diego Maritime Museum will present a free lecture about early Spanish explorer Juan R. Cabrillo and his ship San Salvador.  The free slide lecture will be offered at the Catalina Island Museum in the Casino Building at 7 p.m..

The staff of our local museum are pleased to be working with the San Diego Maritime Museum and are hoping many museum and community members take advantage of this special opportunity to see this beautiful tall ship and then learn more about the first European to "discover" Catalina Island in 1542.  Call 310-510-4650 for more information.

The Catalina Island Museum is a private nonprofit organization, founded in 1953, dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing Catalina's unique cultural heritage.  To learn more visit our website.