[Gareth Jones]

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/...n-her-way-back

[TOM ALEXANDER]

Have to take issue with that news release - "Cutty Sark" arrived in the Thames Estuary quite some time before 1954 and was anchored beside H.M.S. Worcester at Greenhithe until 1954 when she was moved up to Greenwich, her final "home". Really glad to hear that she is now almost back to her pristine condition, ready for inspection. As Robby Burns says in his poem Tam O'Shanter ---"Weel done Cutty Sark."

[stein]

Proved again: "There'll always be an England."

[gordy]

Originally Posted by stein

Proved again: "There'll always be an England."

Care to explain above to our Scottish contingent?

[Ron Stringer]

Originally Posted by gordy

Care to explain above to our Scottish contingent?

Particularly as both "Cutty Sark" and "Thermopylae", her major (and superior) rival for the title of fastest clipper, were built in Scotland.

[stein]

She's now an English landmark, isn't she? (Try having her moved to Glasgow!) Besides, Scotland is decidedly a junior partner in the partnership, the main office is in London.

[chadburn]

After all the work and money that has been spent on her, will she float? even if she is captured in a filled drydock like the Trincomalee.

[Bob Murdoch]

Originally Posted by stein

She's now an English landmark, isn't she? (Try having her moved to Glasgow!) Besides, Scotland is decidedly a junior partner in the partnership, the main office is in London.

Care to explain THAT to our Scottish contingent?

[Bob Murdoch]

Good to hear she is almost back 'on line' so to speak.
Cheers Bob

[stein]

Care to explain THAT to our Scottish contingent?

Put the blame on Vera Lynn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhUFVrdsd2A

[trotterdotpom]

Stein, I hate to point out the bleeding obvious, but that is Deanna Durbin singing, not Vera Lynn.

John T

[stein]

Well then I retract everything.

[nav]

It's not been short of controversy as outlined in:

http://www.oldsaltblog.com/2010/07/1...berthing-pain/

A friend's grandmother saw the article in the Sunday Times about the difficulty in dimensioning the rig to get the original sizes as the quality of old photographs were not detailed enough. She wrote to them and asked if they might be interested in looking at her father's log book as there were some dimensions in them and he had been the ship's carpenter on her. A nonchalent reply said they would look but doubted anything of interest would be contained in them. What they didn't realise was that the "ship's carpenter" was essentially the chief engineer and his log books had almost every component of the ship dimensioned from the rig to the door handles.

He was aboard when Cutty Sark lost her rudder in the Sunda Strait and it fell to him to make the temporary rudder. Wood was gathered from stock and anywhere appropriate to make the rudder but it also fell to him to fit the darn thing. The master was asked what would happen if he were to be lost during the operation as he had a young wife and family. Realising that he was not covered by any ship's policy, the master put a fifty pound note on the table and declared that if he succeeded he would have the cash, were he to be lost, the master would personally ensure that his wife and family got the money. He completed the job successfully and the story of the ongoing voyage can be read in the url http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutty_Sark

[Bob Murdoch]

Hi Nav,
Fascinating bit of info. Did they actually have a look at the logs?
Cheers Bob

[nav]

Originally Posted by Bob Murdoch

Hi Nav,
Fascinating bit of info. Did they actually have a look at the logs?
Cheers Bob

I was told that they were a very valuable source of info for the dimensions but I don't know of any other in depth study of them.

I was also told by an uncle who worked for the Salvage Association in HK that her sail-plan was still on the lofting floor of the Hong Kong United Dockyard and had been left as a mark of respect. That was at least fifteen years ago now.

[spongebob]

This was an email received March 2008 from the Cutty Sark Trust
Quote
Dear Mr Jenkins,
Thank you for your email and article. I am so so sorry it has taken me so long to reply to you; I have only recently started as Curator and am just working through the backlog!
I was very interested to read your article and your encouraging words about conserving the ship are most welcome. It is unfortunate that the ship is not being conserved to be sea-worthy again. We did consider this option when, 10 years ago, it was predicted that urgent repair works would be needed by 2007 and the plans for a major overhaul began. However, to make her seaworthy would have incurred a much greater expense and we would have had to replace so much of her original material (90% of her hull is original, despite the fire impact) that she would no longer be the authentic Cutty Sark.
Photographs of the conservation project work in action can be viewed on our website if you are interested.
http://www.cuttysark.org.uk/index.cf...svcznpihoepdgk
Thank you for your interest and taking the time to email us the article
Kind regards,
Jessica Beverly

[IMG]file:///C:/Users/BOBJEN%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtml1/02/clip_image001.gif[/IMG]Jessica Beverly
Curator
Cutty Sark Trust, Greenwich
Registered Charity No. 1080462
Tel: +44 (0)20 8858 2698
Fax: +44 (0)20 8858 6976
Email: jessica.beverly@cuttysark.org.uk
www.cuttysark.org.uk
Clipper ship Cutty Sark, fastest in her day
unquote

An earlier article suggested that the site was to be compromised by a disco or the like to increase the patronage
It was one of life’s moments to go on board Cutty Sark at Greenwich in 1998, a freezing cold windy day in London that added to the imagination of her being in the roaring forties.
It would be interesting to hear from an SN member close to the site as to how the restoration has finished up

Bob

[nav]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2dSx...eature=related

Call me old fashioned, but I wonder what is resisting the overturning moment of the wind on the rigging? I'm sure that lots of young engineers with bright futures and a pc will have checked the structure to the n'th degree but surely there must be something more stopping it capsizing. I hope it's not another bouncy bridge scenario.

[Phill]

Some Good News, the Queen is to reopen the Cutty Sark on the 27th of April. These shots were taken on the 12th Jan 2012

Phill

[Mad Landsman]

On BBC2 last night -( iPlayer if you missed it )
A fairly good programme about the Cutty Sark - History, background, current restoration project etc. With interviews of many of the people involved.
Worth a look.

[stores]

I read somewhere she is not being restored to a condition where she would float again,
'? anyone else heard this. ?

[Jocko]

The Cutty Sark (BBC2) is beautiful. She is being kept in an enclosed dock where visitors can actually walk underneath her and see her entire hull. This way she will keep preserved far longer than if she was in water.
Just for the record she was built in Scotland and Scottish owned but we don`t mind her being kept down in England, just don`t let her catch fire again.

[Gareth Jones]

My daughter works nearby the Cutty Sark - she is outraged that the masts are painted white instead of the previous black. What colour were the masts in her working days ?

[Mad Landsman]

Originally Posted by Gareth Jones

My daughter works nearby the Cutty Sark - she is outraged that the masts are painted white instead of the previous black. What colour were the masts in her working days ?

If you look at paintings in the gallery, and even black and white photographs, then I think that you will find that the lower parts were white painted metal and the upper parts were timber.

[Gareth Jones]

Originally Posted by Mad Landsman

If you look at paintings in the gallery, and even black and white photographs, then I think that you will find that the lower parts were white painted metal and the upper parts were timber.

You're quite right - looking in gallery I cant find any colour other than white ! I should have known - you got any daughters landsman? if so you will understand.

[TOM ALEXANDER]

Originally Posted by Ron Stringer

Particularly as both "Cutty Sark" and "Thermopylae", her major (and superior) rival for the title of fastest clipper, were built in Scotland.

Jury is still out on which was the faster although both vessels seemed to fare better when reduced from full rigged ship to barque. Both vessels were known to be able to not only keep up with, but also overhaul some of the "crack" steamships of the day. As for the "Scottish" bit, although the vessels were built in Scotland, the Cutty Sark in Dumbarton for example, several were also built across the Cyde in Greenock. Names such as the Aerial, and Tae Ping come to mind (20 minutes apart after 14,000 miles at sea). I think it fitting that the Cutty Sark rests by the Thames, however, as is was to there that she, and most of the other clippers brought their tea - into the East and West India docks. I think the Cutty Sark also sailed out of Gravesend for a while, but like all the others she spent a lot of their working life "tramping" with coal, rice, and a multitude of other cargoes.