Thursday Doors- Morro Bay Maritime Museum

Posted in Photography, Thursday Doors, Travel and Tourism, Travel PhotographyTagged , , , , , ,

Copyright ©2026 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Continuing on with our Morro Bay trip I have for you today some doors, and portals from the Morro Bay Maritime Museum. We stopped by the museum while walking back to our car after dinner one evening. We went specifically to see the DSRV-2, Avalon. The museum itself was closed but, the outdoor exhibits are open and one is free to see them and walk around the grounds.

Let’s start with the Door to the Museum-

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com

There’s a mural on the street facing side of the building that depicts the Tug Boat Alma. Alma is famous for rescuing the survivors after a Japanese submarine fired on and sank the Union Oil tanker Montebello on December 23, 1941. The attack occurred 6 miles off shore. The Alma rushed out to search for survivors and picked up 2 lifeboats of full.

The tugboat is on display here as well. I didn’t get full shots of her though.
©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
The boat you see in the background is a United States Coast Guard Surf Rescue Boat. These vessels were built between 1980-1990. These boats are self-bailing and self-righting and were designed for close-in rescue in moderate to heavy sea and surf conditions. This one was decommissioned in the early 2000’s.

DSRV-2 Avalon, DSRV is an acronym for Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle. The Avalon is one of only 2 DSRV’s. The door is really a hatch. I believe it’s located on top of the submersible inside that orange cover.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
DSRV-2, Avalon

Here’s a photo of the signage that was in front of it. Scroll to the bottom of this post to read what the signage says.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com

There was a partial bit of tall ship too. I didn’t get a photo of the signage and have forgotten what it said. Sorry! I’m not sure if this is the Poop Deck or the Forecastle, but it has a canon door! Yes, I think it’s listing a bit.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com

Just in front of the partial tall ship is a display case housing several Lego builds of seafaring craft by Alex Nelson, age 13 at the time he constructed these.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
Per the signage Alex says, ” He first build the Alma which he built from memory when he was 12 years old after visiting the Maritime Museum.

The hardest build was the Avalon. You can not purchase these sets. Alex created them himself.”

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
Image

There are a few other boats there that I didn’t get photos of. With any luck I’ll get to go back to see more of this museum.

Fun Facts:

“Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle

Launched in July 1972, the Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSVR) Avalon was the second of two identical submersibles. Both DSRV’s were built as a result of the tragic USS Thresher accident in April 1063. The loss of the nuclear submarine Thresher and all crew highlighted the need for the Navy to develop a dependable, rapid deployment, rescue system for downed submarines.

The DSRV vehicles offered a quick response, all-weather capable system for rescuing the crew of a submarine immobilized on the sea floor.  Mystic and Avalon are the first submersibles that were designed to be readily transported by land, air, on or beneath the sea.  They could operate independently of surface conditions or under ice for rapid response to an accident anywhere in the world with a maximum operating depth of 5000 feet.

After arriving at a rescue site, the DSRV Avalon could dive, locate and attach itself to a disabled submarine (DISSUB). At that point, the DISSUB’s access hatches would open and crew from the DISSUB could enter directly into the DSRV. The DSRV could then detach itself from the submarine and transfer the rescued personnel to the support ship, a specially modified submarine or a surface ship.

The DSRV Avalon was deactivated in 2000 and her sister ship Mystic by 2008. The next generation system, Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System (SRDRS), has replaced the DSRV system. Like the DSRV’s, the newer SRDS is based at the Naval Air Station Coronado Island, California, ready to respond in a matter of hours to a submarine emergency in any of the world’s oceans.”

~ Morro Bay Maritime Museum

This post is part of the weekly challenge Thursday Doors hosted by Dan Antion over at https://nofacilities.com/

Head on over there to see more doors from around the world or join the craze and add a door or two of your own. 😊

more to come…

31 thoughts on “Thursday Doors- Morro Bay Maritime Museum”

  1. Thank you for this terrific post, Deborah. I love the door with the carving of the Alma tugboat. And to think that event caused the development of the DSRV. The history is fascinating and so important. And the Legos are very cool!

    Like

    Reply

  3. Thanks for this maritime visit, Deborah, I really enjoyed it. It’s always amazing to me the ships that are engineered and what they are all designed to do. Fun to see the Lego ships, too. And a beautiful door.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. I may be your only reader who never has held a single Lego block in my hand. I had no idea they were so popular until a couple of years ago, and I never would have stopped to look at a display like this one. I suppose having no kids makes a difference; I mostly missed out on Pokemon, too. I’m aware it exists, but that’s it.

    Now, that door? That’s my kind of thing! It reminds me of the carvings of Gordon Bok, or some of the figureheads and such on the old ships. I could stand and ponder that door for a good while!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. How fun that you got to visit this museum Deborah! I enjoyed reading about the different vessels and seeing the Lego exhibit brought back memories from childhood – although we never did anything that fancy! How cool for Alex to get recognition for his creations. 😊

    Like

    Reply

  9. This was such a refreshing post – learning about the rescue vessels and bits of history! Also, three cheers for Alex and his Lego creations. Did you know that my son won a poetry award for his lego poem when he was in middle school. He was pretty excited and the poem was really fun. He sent it to the lego company and actually got an email reply back from someone there. It was a very small gesture but made my son feel so affirmed. And how nicr that they display Alex’s clever creations!

    Like

    Reply

  10. This is such a cool museum. I’ve seen examples of most classes of ships, but I’ve never seen one of these. Its purpose and design are amazing, necessary and effective. Thanks for sharing these photos. I hope you can visit again when they’re open, but this was a great visit,

    I love the Legos, too. They have always been popular around here.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Our daughter reclaimed some of hers from the attic this past Christmas. The last thing we bought her was the Lego train. You have to build all the cars on top of carriers and an motorized unit for the engine.

        Like

        Reply

  12. How cool! I had never heard of or read about DSRV or other ships designed to recue personell of submarines. It feels like an episode of Thunderbirds! (Did you have this British animated puppet show on tv?) And we can’t thank Alex and Alma enough!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much, Peter! I hadn’t heard of it either before we took the Light station tour. Our guide mentioned it so after dinner I wanted to stop at the Maritime Museum to see it.
      We didn’t have Thunderbirds but, we did have Stingray. World Aquanaut Security Patrol also with Puppet characters. I liked that show.
      Here’s a YouTube link to an episode.

      It was produced in the UK specifically for a US audience. I just learned that. My grandchildren have a cartoon called Octonauts with all sorts of cool machines and gadgets.

      Like

      Reply

  13. What does it say about my intellectual development that my favorite part of this trip is the Lego builds? I mean, I love it all, and the bit of tall ship is super-cool, but that Lego kid is my hero! I don’t remember Lego from my childhood, but my youngest and my grandsons got me hooked. I lost interest when they started making “sets”, because I thought it was more fun to construct our own out of random bits.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. LOL! It says you’re in good company! I love original Lego builds. My son was a huge Lego guy who made up his own builds, and years later so too are my Grandsons. They make up more builds than buy sets.
      I even have a few Legos of my own. 😀

      Like

      Reply

Leave a reply to marianallen Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.