Subtle, or not?

[Grounded]

I thought this newly refurbished landmark, "The Ferry Building" looked good from under the bow of a cruise ship, what do you think? note the line from the extreme bow with a little flag on it near the water, anyone know what it is for?

[John J]

Brilliant photo ! A lovely old building.
My first immediate impression when I first saw the image was:- "it's been miniaturized !", my second thought was, "that building's been cut out from another image and pasted". then I noticed your message above the image (duh)...
Very clever, at first glance the bow of the ship makes the modern buildings appear smaller and the ferry building "dinky" and in complete contrast to the modern buildings behind it. At second glance the angle of the bow is nearly parallel with the tops of the buildings along the waterfront.
I know which building I prefer... the one that was "in-place" before the others were built.

As for the line hanging from the bow, my totally crazy guess is it that is a low-tech device for measuring the direction and intensity of the wind ! eg...line vertical=no wind, line at 20 degrees = breeze, line at 45 degrees= strong wind, line at 90 degrees = storm force, line disapeared = hurricane force.
I hope you won't keep us waiting for the answer toooo long !