International Travel / Spain

Bilbao Maritime Museum

by liilingon

This is also called itsasmuseum and our visit occurred on a rare rainy day.

There were loads of exhibits on the history of the Port of Bilbao and plenty of models to explore. We learnt about the importance of the maritime influence on the heritage and culture of Bilbao.
This is the Breeches Buoy rescue system. The tripod was set up on land and the line-throwing gun was used to fire a wooden board with the written instructions for assembling the Breeches Buoy on the sinking ship.
A thick rope was then fired to the ship to be attached at a high point. The other end of the rope is on land. With the aid of pulleys, the buoy/chair carrying members of the crew were winched to land, one … person … at … a … time. Must’ve been an extremely slow rescue.
That’s the carrier, which resembles a zipline. The estuary of Bilbao has a long history of shipwrecks due to winter storms and a sand bar. The first sea rescue unit, using the Breaches Buoy, was built in 1919.
Of course, the most amount of time was spent in the kids section on their interactive exhibits 😉
The trainera is a type of fishing boat used in the 1800s, that over time, became used for racing. The racing began as the fishing boats would race to be the first back to the quay as they would receive the best price for their fish. The traineras are designed for speed and manoeuvrability needed to catch anchovy and sardines.
The boats are manned by 13 oarsmen in pairs (one solo in the bow). The races are 5.5 km in length. The first regatta occurred in 1859 and have been held ever since.

There was also a huge outdoor permanent exhibit at the museum, which we checked out on a previous outing.

6.1 km round trip

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