Just a boat... yes, and the Spirit of St. Louis is just a bunch of bedsheets and the space capsules in the NASM are just tin cans. They could all be cut up, really.
If you are old enough to remember the books and TV specials, you know that what the Calypso did was create the idea of environmental awareness and activism among the public. I liked the museum idea. Public symbols are as important as you decide to make them be, and this one had potential. I also think it's sad that the contribution of the Calypso will be lost on the current generation. What we define as viable symbols says a lot about us as a society.
THAT SAID.... I went to the link that shows the pictures of the rotting Calypso, thinking I'd be heart broken. In reality, you're right, I didn't care. Stripped of the equipment, and more importantly the men and activity, it IS just a boat, and not a very impressive one at that. Jacques was, I think ready to junk the Calypso anyway, it was just too ineffecient and costly to maintain. I think it would have been a good and productive thing had she been saved, for reasons that are more practical than sentimental.
The bigger story is what she now represents - feuding, lawsuits and infighting among the Cousteaus that have pretty much ground the enterprise to a halt. Jacques, the control freak that he was, seemed to want to sabotage it all.
