Cousteau' Calypso ...

[bil56]

hi !

(if this post isn't in the good box, thank the crew for changing ..)

"Calypso", the famous boat of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, actually a wreck on shore in a shipyard in Concarneau, France, nextly for sale ...

a bit sad, no ?

[Don C L]

If true it is more than sad. Can you post a picture of it there?

[Cheechako]

Very sad....

[MarkJ]

Boats have never been built to last forever. It may have been the perfect research ship in the 1960s and it certainly changed to worlds view of the oceans. However compared to todays motor vessels its probably small and expensive to run amd maintain.

It was an icon...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RV_Calypso

[Hydra]

A newspaper story (in French) with pictures of the Calypso in the yard:
Calypso. Procédure de saisie-vente lancée dès lundi - Concarneau - Le Télégramme, quotidien de la Bretagne

Another story, in English: French shipyard threatens to sell Calypso in Cousteau heritage row - France - RFI

Alain

[Don C L]

For just the tremendous contribution that particular ship helped make to the cause of publicizing the sea, its life and the threats to its health, it should be in the Smithsonian, or Mystic or SOMEWHERE that kids can go see it and parents can explain WHY we have saved this particular mine sweeper over all others and why we should honor it and the men who used it to bring an unknown ocean into our living rooms so that we would grow up and do something to protect it. That minesweeper was just one of thousands of surplus ships that all rotted away, yes, but THAT particular minesweeper should be preserved. I can't believe that France would let this happen.

[Group9]

That's sad. A girl I knew who lived in Greenville, Mississippi told me of running into two French guys in a bar in the 1980's with another girl. One of them claimed to be a son of Jacques Cousteau and said they were exploring the Mississippi River and had stopped in Greenville to fix the Calypso after it had struck debris in the Mississippi River.

She basically, told them that it was the weakest pickup line she had ever heard, including the fake French accents, and they should think up another one. She and her girlfriend went home laughing at the lame story. Until the next morning when she picked up the paper at her parent's house and saw that Calypso was in Greenville being repaired after hitting something in the Mississippi River!

[bil56]

look what it still remains!

Vers une vente aux enchères de la «*Calypso*»

https://escales.wordpress.com/catego...ypso-cousteau/

http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/galer...la-derive.html

[Orion Jim]

One would think there exists in France a dry dock berth where she could be put on static display and be the focal point for a seaside communities revitalization. Any building with a display of Cousteau's contributions to science would draw people from all over the world. Shame on the French minister of culture for ignoring the fact that Cousteau put France on the map with his exploits.

[s/v Beth]

Jacques wanted it to be a reef, what it was going to be before he got it. I say do it. RIP

[ryon]

Time to visit, and maybe support, the fine old ships that HAVE been saved! (That's what I did today!)

[arsenelupiga]

that guy and ship are singlehandedly responsible I am wasting money on french boats and sailing french polynesia !

never seen better targeted add for french than his series, by any measure.

what i could do with all that money ?!?! buy 12 properties & 5 % deposit and get rich instead. maintenance costs would be similar

well the only downside would be i get sick and old before rich, so f* off this idea.

[bil56]

Calypso has no value as a boat,
she is a former military ship built in poor quality wood,
but she is a symbol ...
and France has no more financial means to preserve all symbols

[MarkJ]

Displaying a 140 ft, 300 ton ship is no easy or inexpensive project.

You cant even float it so some dry dock

See the attached photo below. Note the minor air vents in the bow.

What would Jaques do? He would sell the firewood buy a Zodiac and go make a film!




The Cousteau.org has no project listed on their page except for scientific study, preserving the environment and regenerating the environment.
They are looking forward, not backwards
Projects Cousteau Society

Here is just one of their projects:

The Cousteau Society has committed to the preservation of the vaquita—the most endangered cetacean in the world—by partnering with the Mexican scientific consortium Oceanides Conservación y Desarrollo Marino, A.C. This consortium works on sustainable use of marine and coastal resources in the Sea of Cortez, and on the vaquita in particular with Dr. Lorenzo Rojas Bracho an

[bil56]

news !

L'écueil des enchères se rapproche pour la Calypso

sorry, no translation ...