The Falls of Clyde ship

[LikaNui]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

FYI - meetings to discuss the fate of the FOC are open to the public and held every Monday @ 4pm at the Clean Islands Council, 179 Sand Island Access Rd.

Hopefully you saw this story in today's Star-Bulletin.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

Yep, but I had no idea they were having meetings til I read it.

[LikaNui]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

Did everyone see this story at the top of the Advertiser's front page this morning?

Falls of Clyde will be sunk unless rescue arrives soon

The Falls of Clyde, formerly a main attraction in Honolulu Harbor, will be sunk next month unless a buyer comes forward with the millions of dollars needed to save it, the Bishop Museum said yesterday.
Plans to sink the 128-year-old ship, which has been serving as a centerpiece for the museum's Maritime Center, could be carried out in a matter of weeks, according to Blair Collis, vice president and chief operating officer of the museum.
Unless someone comes forward by Sept. 1 with a plan to save and restore the vessel, it will be sunk 15 miles off Honolulu Harbor, museum officials said.
(...)
Workers yesterday were preparing the ship to be towed from the harbor. A U.S. Coast Guard team will do a safety inspection today to make sure the ship, which has been stripped of its masts and rigging, is in proper condition to be moved from its berth at Pier 7.
Tentative plans had been set earlier this week to sink the ship on Tuesday. The museum had already contacted the Coast Guard to prepare for that.
(...)
"We've been talking to the Bishop Museum under the assumption that they were negotiating in good faith. Then all of a sudden word came down that they have plans to scuttle the ship on Tuesday," Woolaway said.
"There's now a feeling of distrust" among the negotiating parties, she said.
As of yesterday afternoon, neither the Friends of the Falls of Clyde nor the Coast Guard had been informed that the museum had decided to delay the Tuesday sinking.
The date was changed yesterday when museum officials became aware that three different parties are interested in adopting the ship. Two of the parties are from Hawai'i, while the third is an individual from Australia, said Collis, who declined to identify the parties.
"The situation changes quite rapidly," Collis said. "We don't have a new date set for its sinking but it could be set for later in the week, later in the month or beyond."
(...)
The firm conducted a structural survey that concluded it would cost $24 million to $32 million to restore the ship to "a level of presentability at which the public can be aboard," Lombardi said.
If someone were to come forth with a plan to transfer the ship, it would cost upwards of $9 million just to stabilize the ship for offshore towing, he said.
(...)
Meanwhile, workers continue to prepare the ship for a possible final fate, 1,800 feet down in the ocean.

Much more of the story at the link above.

[LikaNui]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

I was in town and running errands nearby, so I drove by it today and paused for a look-see. No masts, no figurehead... SAD.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

Again, I missed the Monday meetings concerning the FOC, however, I find it 'interesting' that all along, the Bishop Museum has been saying that while sinking is a possibility if solutions aren't found, but that it was a last resort, not in the very near future, looking for alternatives, demasting and other removal of structures was not a preclude to sinking, and other 'don't worry too much, there is still time to find ways to save her' communications.

And then it's heard that it was to be sunk a few days ago!

I don't think the Bishop Museum has been up front with the public on this matter, at all.
It seems they have been saying one thing to placate the masses, while bum rushing the vessel's demise all along, probably to get the death blow instituted and have her under so that any focus of piss poor management on their part can be shrugged off, because 'she's gone already'.

[LikaNui]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

I totally agree with you, Ron!

[LikaNui]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

Uh-oh. A Breaking News story tonight:

Falls of Clyde destiny sinking fast

It'll take a miracle now to save the Falls of Clyde.
The 130-year-old ship will be sunk unless a new owner is found by Sept. 1, according to Timothy E. Johns, president and CEO of Bishop Museum.
In a letter to Bishop Museum friends an family dated Aug. 14, Johns explained that three parties who expressed interest in adopting the ship are no longer factors. The Falls of Clyde needs extensive restoration work, which could cost $32 million, as well as ongoing maintenance of $1 million per year, Johns said.
(...)
"Although we continue to meet with various community members to try and come up with additional ideas to save the ship, we must recognize at this point after six months of searching for a new caretaker that if a suitable adoption arrangement for the Falls of Clyde cannot be worked out with any interested parties by Sept. 1, we will have no other option but to sink the ship."
Johns said the Falls of Clyde has been uninsured since February, posing a liability to personnel and property at its Honolulu Harbor berth site. "If the ship was to sink at this time, the cost to bring it out of the water would place the museum in direct jeopardy of its continued operation," Johns said.
In conclusion, Johns wrote, "We are saddened by the prospect of sinking the Falls of Clyde. We wish we could do more, but we neither have the finances nor staff resources to undertake the significant fund-raising campaign that would be necessary to restore the vessel."

[Frankie's Market]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

If anyone wants to save the FOC, they're gonna have to do so no later than later than Labor Day. Once it passes, the ship's fate is sealed: It will be scuttled. Right now, the vessel is being measured to see if it can be safely sunk off the shallow waters of the Waianae Coast and turned into an undersea attraction.

http://starbulletin.com/2008/08/26/news/story04.html

[Ron Whitfield]

Update - some good news/very bad news

http://honoluluweekly.com/feature/

Finally, she may be taken out of the museum's hands and have a chance at restoration.
But, after a visit to the ship and talking to the one person there to deal with it all on a daily basis, it's obvious she is in much worse condition than when saved from Alaska in the 60s and getting more so every day.
Not only is the hull worse, but now, just about everything above deck has to be replaced. Most all of the original wood structures are too far gone to restore and will have to be preserved at the point they are in order to use as templates for exact replication, and as she sits completely exposed to the elements without so much as tarps to keep rain off as well as out of lower levels that are delicate, everyday she falls farther into the abiss. Many of her beautiful pieces have been stupidly removed in brutal fashion and some have even been destroyed in the effort which makes restoration a much greater problem than it already was.
A lot of this could have been avoided quite easily, as the salt water she sits in needed to be regularly pumped up and sprayed over her like rain to keep the fresh water (rain) from rotting the woods. Zinc plates needed to be replaced as needed. These are the most bottom line actions that the museum could have easily made sure where done, at relative low costs.

On top of that, vultures have been taking advantage of the situation to freely steal vauable original pieces that cannot be replaced. And theft at the dock has also seen the loss of artifacts.

Bishop Museum execs should be exteremly ashamed of themselves, to say the least, but from what I've seen, they couldn't care less. There's a lot of simple basics that they should have been doing to save important items and could be doing today to preserve whats left. But, no.

It looks like she will be spared from Davey Joses' locker, however, it's a disgusting fate she's left with still. It'll be much more of an excercise and expense this time around to put her back in any kind of decent shape, as all the minds and hands that help perfectly restore her the first time are no longer around.
It's so bad, that I actually could agree that scuttling is an act of mercy.
But those responsible for this disaster should be keel hauled before she's sunk.

[MrBobHarrisSan]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

Ron, this is incredible news! Thank you so much for posting the link, I've foolishly been following this story in the Advertiser which I've now seen has left out virtually all of the dramatic details. So where do I send a check?

I've attached a few pix from exactly 2 years ago this month. Does anyone have current pix (though I'm scared to see them now)?

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

You don't want to see her now, Bob. You'll bust out in tears just like I'm about to seeing the sweet pix you've posted. She'll never be in the visual state you show again without a miracle. The photo on the right of the main salon, that area is now burnt toast. There is now a huge hole over that table where they chainsawed(!?!) the flooring structure to remove the beautiful original bench that set on the after deck instead of disassembling it, and then it was destroyed when it was dropped while being hauled off. They saved the etched glass parts and such, but just reviving this piece alone will be a tuff task.

www.savethefallsofclyde.com is where you can start your quest to contribute any help. And thank you, big time!

[MrBobHarrisSan]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

Thank you again Ron for more good info. Here's what I wrote in reply to an Advertiser article before things started looking up:

"I also hope for the best for the Friends. I hope it was scare tactics all along. It's a dangerous thing to discard history so callously. The reported price tag is enormous, but that shouldn't mean a knee-jerk no can. I couldn't seem to establish interest in this matter from the SF National Maritime Museum, though I'm sure the Feds are also cash strapped. The Falls is the only remaining of its kind. I'm glad to know that when Western society decides it's ready to honor properly its maritime traditions, groups like PVS and others will be here to educate from their experience. We need the Nainoa Thompson of the Western tradition to emerge. Maybe not only saving the Falls, but genuinely resurrecting it to its functioning purpose is as brazen and insane and beautiful an idea as sailing a lashed together canoe to Tahiti and throughout the Pacific led by the stars. But until there's a love for the tradition and culture deep enough to sacrifice for it, it will only remain an idea."

I recently had the unforgettable experience of sailing on the Makalii from Keauhou Bay back to Kawaihae. My friend is the captain/navigator and has much better insight into these issues than I could ever offer in my words on paper. His group is currently planning its next voyage to circumnavigate the globe. My hat is forever off to their efforts and example.

I put on a few more pix since I apparently can only put up 3 at a time.

[AbsolutChaos]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

My first trip to Maritime Museum today--and my first examination of the horror of what Falls of Clyde has become. Not allowed aboard, but....

***WARNING*** Depressing pics to follow! Sorry for the quality. All I've got is a point-n-shoot. (Plus one of other nearby sea-faring vessels, taken at the same time to further heighten the tragedy, at least for me...)

First the front and back of the Falls, minus her figurehead...it's like she is beheaded, no?


Then taken from above, while inside the museum (not just beheaded, she's naked too! So sad!)...


Meanwhile, nearby at the same time, in contrast...

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

To rub salt in the wound, now all we have with tall masts in the harbor to represent the golden age of sailing is this embarassment pictured, in red and black.
This thing is just a flat bottomed barge that Robt. Halcro fitted with a hull and masts to replicate a tall ship and anybody who knows sailing ships knows it's a joke. I worked for Halcro's company, Windjammer Cruises in the 70s, and left in '80 when this monstrousity came around Diamond Head from a Virginia shipyard. It's been doing nothing but sitting where you see it for over a decade now. What a waste of space. Talk about something that needs to be scuttled!

[Amati]

Re: The Falls of Clyde ship

http://www.kgmb9.com/main/index.php?...9317&Itemid=40
Updated figures put renovation costs at about $40 million. So far there are no takers.

http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=9085608
Bruce McEwan, president of the Friends of Falls of Clyde, says preservation of the vessel is estimated to cost $2 million.

How can there be such a wide gap between estimates of what renovation/preservation will cost?