French shipyard threatens to sell THE Calypso

[Freewillow]

Stop dreaming guy's. Here is a picture of the CAlypso, taken a few days ago. How are you going to bring it to Florida or the Mediterranea .

 

[Akimbo]

Stop dreaming guy's…

Agreed. Her soul is gone along with most of her original timbers. RIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icF4JRvqc7U
[video=youtube;icF4JRvqc7U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icF4JRvqc7U[/video]

This video reminds me how much I regret not having spent more time with my grandfather who was a shipwright in San Francisco. Quite an art.

 

[SubAquatix]

Truck her to the rails and toss her in!

 

[JMBL]

Truck her to the rails and toss her in!

Exactly what I've in mind.

 

[drbill]

I have not had much faith in The Cousteau Society since JYC's second wife took over. The decisions on the Calypso are one reason. I'm not sure what TCS has actually been doing lately... I haven't seen much of their presence. I think there are better places to donate. I did work on one TCS film back when JYC was alive but spent boat time on Alcyone instead of Calypso. Seems a lot of the scientific and educational staff left TCS when JYC died. I still work with them on occasion.

Sad to see Calypso in this state though.

 

[shoredivr]

The ship that became the Calypso was built as a minesweeper in Seattle and lend-leased to the UK during WWII and served as a passenger ferry between Malta and Gozzo after the war. For some strange reason I enjoy re-reading her story in Chapter Two, La Calypso, in Cousteau’s book The Living Sea. The original plan was to have a much smaller vessel built, in the 75' range. Calypso is 140' and 360 tons.

I got to visit her in San Diego in 1969, my last year of high school. She was in a local shipyard. It was a Saturday so not many people were around to ask what I was doing here. I just walked up and asked if I could come aboard and look around. None other than André Laban essentially said sure kid… I was too stunned to remember his exact words. I climbed down in the observation chamber at the bow, visited the engine room, wheelhouse, aft hold, and solon. I could hardly believe it. It seems like I knew every inch (OK, millimeter) of her from obsessing over photos and documentaries for years.

The two one-man submersibles, the Sea Fleas, were ashore in a workshop and I spent about an hour studying them and taking pictures but didn’t go inside. I don’t remember anyone saying a word to me.

Calypso is well over 70 years old now and made of wood. I suspect the refit and maintenance costs to resume her old roll would be far more than replacing her with a much newer and efficient vessel.

Wow Akimbo, that is quite the tale. Thanks for writing it. Meeting Andre Laban, too. I still have old National Geographics with the Red Sea habitat... I made a diorama model of the starfish module, the deep sea habitat etc on the reef for a Grade six project in school. Wish I'd started diving when I was 20 instead of when I was 40...

 

[rhwestfall]

Cousteau was the one that kindled the fire in me as a kid... It smoldered a long time for various reasons, but it truly was the start. I too feel like part of me is being lost.

 

[Akimbo]

Wow Akimbo, that is quite the tale...

Glad you enjoyed it. It is funny how Scubaboard can make long-forgotten memories surface. I hadn’t given that chance-experience any thought in decades. I also met Bev Morgan at that conference who did more to change the trajectory of my life than Cousteau.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/vi...ealab-i%92s-50th-anniversary.html#post7157336

I had no idea that the Calypso was there. I took a ride on one of those bay tour boats since San Diego was home to so many of the ocean-related developments of the day. We passed the FLIP, one of the new Bravo instrument buoys, Lockheed’s facility for the Deep Quest and DSRV submersibles, Scripps Oceanography’s facilities and the Sub Base at Pt Loma, Aircraft carriers at North Island, and the big 32nd street Naval base. My head was already close to exploding when a voice over the loud speaker pointing out the Calypso. The yard’s gate guard would have told me to get lost unless I had an invitation had it been a weekday.

 

[Akimbo]

… I still have old National Geographics with the Red Sea habitat... I made a diorama model of the starfish module, the deep sea habitat etc on the reef for a Grade six project in school....

Cool, the Starfish House was a complex structure. You must have spent even more time pouring over The World Without Sun than me! I build this model of Sea Lab III after highschool… no idea what happened to it.

 

[mmmbelows]

So sad, the Calypso belongs in a museum. Too bad there isn't a billionaire out there who's a big enough fan to get it done.

What a dream to be riding in the bow observation bubble over shallow reefs with some dolphins with John Denver's Calypso blasting!