When I was 8 years old my family paid a visit to San Francisco. We went to the Hyde Street Aquatic Park and toured the various historic boats docked there. The Balclutha, in particular, impressed me. It seemed like a real pirate ship.
In fact, it was one of the Clipper ships that sailed around the Cape prior to the installation of the Panama Canal. Countless Clipper ships, many perhaps as regal as the Balclutha, were sailed to San Francisco during the Gold Rush of 49, only to be abandoned in the Bay and subsequently plowed under the landfill when San Francisco's downtown waterfront was extended a few blocks into the bay.