Cousteaus Calypso lies rotting

[salimbag]

Thank you drbill. I am very interested in what the Cousteau Foundation is up to, but their website does not come up and I've gotten no response through email. As you probably know the Cousteau's are in yuchy legal battles, a lot of it seems to be Alexandra vs Francine - as you know Philippe's kids were pretty much cut out of the will regarding the Cousteau franchise and any move they make seems to be hit with legal action by Francine. I get the impression Jacques wanted to sabotage things in some way (and he did never forgive Philippe for marrying a fashion model AND and American....) Anyway, do you know where I can find out about the foundation's activities today?

 

[drbill]

Salimbag-

I was surprised to find the Philippe Cousteau Foundation website inaccessible. I've been out of the country for some time so I'm not sure what is going on there.

It is a shame that the legal nonsense continues and is yet another reason I refuse to offer any support to TCS. Of course JYC was only human, but to be angry at Philippe for marrying a model makes no sense when he had a mistress and later wife who was an airline stew!

Fortunately there are also many other good organizations in this field worthy of our support.

Dr. Bill

 

[mainewebdad]

I can think of no better solution than an artificial reef. make her environmentally sound, take her somewhere warm and scuttle her. She would quickly become a "must-dive".

Something not many people know is that CALYPSO is made out of wood, since she was built as a minesweeper. My personal hope is that she will be restored, but the people who are in charge of her future view her restoration as a low priority, and so she will probably sink in the harbor. I've submitted a restoration plan to the COUSTEAU people, and they have been very gracious in keeping in touch. But there is very little leadership on what to do with this boat. I really wish someone would take the initiative and soon. I think if someone came along with $50,000 and said, "lets start moving on this," things would fall into place. As you might expect with a non-profit entity, there is always fierce competition between projects for funding.
Regards,
-- Mark

 

[mainewebdad]

...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...

I agree - I hate to lose her, but there seems to be little movement on the part of the Cousteau Society people toward making something happen with CALYPSO. So let me ask this question - do you think it's possible that someone could do what Jacques Cousteau did? Would it be possible to find an old ship somewhere and start a non-profit organization which would sell subscriptions, publish a newsletter, and film their adventures? If so, maybe it's time to step past CALYPSO and start working toward whatever ship and organization comes next...

-- Mark

 

[Seadiver5]

I think that to scuttle this fine ship would be criminal. Maybe its because I can look out on the site it was built everyday that I commute to work here in Seattle but unlike the Kalakala or the Virginia V this ship really made history.

Unlike any other ship in history the Calypso was thrust forever into our generation as the vessel that left the future of the oceans and ultimately our planet in its wake.

More people tuned into the Cousteau shows to take an adventure aboard the Calypso than what they did to go scuba diving.

This ship should be completely restored and preserved for future generations to learn from.

I doubt however that the Cousteau Society has after the Death of Philippe, the Death of Jacques, the leaving of Jean Michele and the death of Sir Peter Blake a platform strong enough or the pockets deep enough to undertake such a task.

Kevin Parkhurst

 

[salimbag]

I agree - I hate to lose her, but there seems to be little movement on the part of the Cousteau Society people toward making something happen with CALYPSO. -- Mark

Much of the problem may be legal. The boat is owned by a wealthy Englishman who leased it to JYC. He was backing the restoration but pulled out it appears because he was fed up with the legal bickering between the notable Cousteau women. So even if TCS wants to restore her they may be unable to get permission.

 

[mainewebdad]

Much of the problem may be legal. The boat is owned by a wealthy Englishman who leased it to JYC. He was backing the restoration but pulled out it appears because he was fed up with the legal bickering between the notable Cousteau women. So even if TCS wants to restore her they may be unable to get permission.

This is true. The boat is owned by Loel Guinness III, grandson of Loel Guinness, the original owner who leased the boat to JYC for 1 franc/yr. It was my understanding that he originally backed a plan with Alexandra Cousteau to restore the ship, but pulled out and sided with Francine Cousteau and The Cousteau Society. I've been looking for some kind of contact information on him, but haven't been successful, and haven't been able to find any comment from him in the press. If you have any recent info (anything published in 2004,) any links you have would be most welcome. I tend to think that if some wealthy person stepped forward and plunked down the first $50,000, we would see movement on this. It's a catch 22 - the people who own the boat and the image rights won't commit to a plan without financial backing, and nobody in their right mind is going to fund a restoration without a plan. I hate to say it, but I think this is as far as things will get until the ship rots away and sinks. I would think that CALYPSO's restoration should be priority #1 for TCS. Their whole media empire is built upon that ship and what JYC did with her. To have the original ship able to do projects and the publicity created by stops at various ports of call could help raise lots of money. It's a shame they don't see that or don't care.
-- Mark

 

[Niftynorm]

I remember the Calypso visitiing the great lakes and how they were amazed at all the people who turned out along the Detroit river to watch her. I think part of the problem is we all remember The TV shows but no one cared the last ten years until it is now pretty late.

 

[salimbag]

The story of the Cousteau ingtriques as told by mainewebdad (two posts up) is pretty much the one I have.

I think part of the problem is we all remember The TV shows but no one cared the last ten years until it is now pretty late.

Sadly, I think the problem is not quite as Niftynorm sees it. The Calypso was raised from its sinking in Singapore and word was that restoration was moving forward. If you go to the Cousteau Society website it still says that "... it is only right that, in her retirement, she should tell the story of her magnificent history, inseparable from that of Captain Cousteau. The sister cities of New Rochelle, in the US, and La Rochelle, in France, will share exhibitions based on Calypso's extraordinary adventures. " The website of the Maritime museum there to this day says restoration is going ahead, and I emailed TCS and got the same story. Well informed, caring people have been told the restoration has been going on all along - I think TCS is covering up their dirty laundry. The tradgedy is doubly bad in that a big part of the story is TSC's deceptions about the whole thing. It's too late because no one thought they HAD to care, that the restoration was a done deal. If you have any doubts go to a search engine and type in something like "calypso+cousteau+rochelle (the Calypso's current docking)" and look at all the links telling you the Calypso is soon to be a museum! You have to dig a bit to find the real story.

Shortly before she sank JYC raised the money for a major refit, so I think the money could have fallen into place. But it seems it's too late now.

 

[mainewebdad]

Shortly before she sank JYC raised the money for a major refit, so I think the money could have fallen into place. But it seems it's too late now.

I wonder if a possible solution might be to form a CALYPSO restoration organization and find a way to get to Loel Guinness. The key to this picture is money. An individual or organization which can open the checkbook is the only way to move this project ahead. In the absence of such a person or organization, I agree - it may well be too late. The amount I've heard batted around for a complete refit, in her current state, is $4-million-dollars.

I was thinking about this today... I wonder what The Cousteau Society would do if a group found the original minesweeper plans and began to build a CALYPSO replica. It would certainly cost less than a refit, and it would change the political landscape. Aye Carumba!

-- Mark