Whales , Mean ?

Found my CWM kit. Missing the transom because I had started to build another one without windows. In for it now.

Yeah " G "

     When I went aboard her it was amazing . I felt , truly , that I had stepped back in time . I have always liked the preserved ships especially when they correct any stuff that was done wrong to make them last . I worked on the Hornet as a docent and had two friends who fished daily with Monterey boats and those ridiculous Hicks Engines .

 Yeah ! they keep them old things running still . The nice part of that is they see tourists on the dock and they will invite them aboard to see a " Real " fishing boat ! Gees , I miss the Bay Area !   T.B.

The Alma sails on. During the America's cup several years ago, the NPS organized a sail aboard her for their employees from the Hyde Street Pier/ National Maritime Historic Park venue to watch some practices close up. I didn't qualify of course, but a woman I know, the curator who helped me find my Morgan photos such as above, did. She said watching a sailboat come by on it's vanes at 35 knots was very exciting. Poor old Alma probably felt herself a little slow.

Hi " G "

     You know you are right . There is a problem with preserved ships though .There isn't enough of the different types to make folks really think .Trouble is , Preserving a wood or steel ship IS an expensive proposition . Folks would rather spend their tax dollars on stadiums and  bigger stadiums .

       When I lived in the San Joaquin/Sacramento river Delta , the Alma ( a real preserved Scow Schooner  ) used to tie up next to me . In conversing with the crew I found out they spent enough each year to completely build and maintain six forty foot " River Queen " Steel houseboats ( ocean certified ) . That's a lot of Moola per year !    T.B.      P.S. We have the same problem at the New Braunfels Rail-Road Museum . Folks ask why we don't have our steam engine running .Can you say over half million a year ?

I think we need more preserved ships. When I was young and first built the CWM, naturally I thought it was somehow the "most famous" or "most successful" whaler, a reasonable assumption considering that the other plastic ship models of the day indeed were in their own respects. Instead it exists because the real thing exists, and that through a series of extremely casual decisions by a series of people.

I'll only say that while a lot of what you've said is subject to debate, your paragraphs above are so well written IMO that they stand up with me.

I think a comparison would be appropriate to coal strip mining, or hydraulic gold mining. A truly nauseating industry- seal hunting.

I wish that Imai had seen to kit a whale ship. They were small. The Essex was only 88 feet long, extremely small. Realize that's 13 feet less than the Yacht America (as originally built).

My own particular interests in the industry are not great, and I've focused on the Arctic and Northern Pacific phase. The Morgan was ported in San Francisco for I think 17 years, up to 1906 which was an important year here.