SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS SPUN YARN The non-profit South Carolina Maritime Heritage Foundation is beginning a twoyear, $3-million construction project to build the Spirit of South Carolina, a recreation of a mid-19th-century Charleston pilot schooner for sail training and sea education programs. The vessel is rhe beginning of a broader effort ro preserve and
The new schooner's design is based on drawings ofan 1850s pilot boat built by Pregnall & Company Shipyard in Charleston. interpret South Carolina's maritime heritage. (Charlie Sneed, Executive Director, SCMHF, PO Box 22405, Charleston SC 29413; 843 722-1030; web sire: www .SCMaririme.org) ... The Delaware Bay Schooner Project has acquired the 54-foot schooner Ca.shier, an 1849 oyster boat built in Cedarville, New Jersey, which has dredged for oysters on Delaware Bay since
The Cashier in her last season dredging for oysters. (Photo: DBSP) her launching, first under sail and later under power; she is reportedly the oldest working vessel in the United States. (Delaware Bay Schooner Project, 2800 High Street, Bivalve, Port Norris NJ 08349; 856 785-2060; web site: www.ajmeerwald.org) ... The Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild is replacing the entire deck and waterways of the 1883 barkentine Gaze/a ofPhiladelphia, involving removal of the
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Rose Surprise Fans of Patrick O'Brian have been thrilled to learn rhat a film based on the late author's Aubrey/Marurin series is planned, although it is currently in the limbo of "in development." One exciting result of this plan has been the choice of the replica frigate Rose to portray Jack Aubrey's command HMS Surprise. Sold by the HMS Rose Foundation in March 2001 the ship is currently in Newport, Rhode Island, for alterations and is owned by Seven Seas Venture, Inc. of Providence, Rhode Island. Built in 1970 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the ship has been based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for the past 14 years. Kaye Williams, president of the HMS Rose Foundation, writes: "It is certainly with mixed emotions that we announce rhe sale of rhe ship. While Rose has largely been self-supporting over the years, it should be remembered rhar most sail training ships the size of Rose are owned by maritime nations. There has always been a daunting HMS Rose under sail. financial challenge overshadowing all our ven(www.tallshiprose.org) tures, beginning with rhe near total re-build in the late 1980s and through the development and delivery of all the sail training sessions and port visits around the Atlantic rim. Needless to say the challenge to keep her safe, inspected and magnificent has cost our very small foundation many long days and nor a few sleepless nights. The film production for which rhe ship has been purchased will lavish funds on her rhar would never have been otherwise available. So, although ir may seem an unfortunate development to the many who have sailed with us from schools, colleges, universities and rhe general public, you will all be pleased to know that when Rose returns ro her education mission when filming is completed, she will be a vastly improved ship. Modificarions and improvements scheduled to begin soon should include new decks, sails, running rigging, engines, bow and stern decoration and more. The Rose Foundation is still very active; her mission is also rhe care and maintenance of the National Historic Landmark Nantucket Lightship #112, based here in Bridgeport." (HMS Rose Foundation, One Bostwick Avenue, Bridgeport CT 06605; 203 335-1433; fax: 203 335-6793) Capt. Richard Bailey, without whom rhe Rose would nor be sailing today, goes with his ship ro steer her through the rocks and shoals ofHo llywood. Bailey's leadership in sail training has been widely recognized; he and the HMS Rose Foundation created a broad constituency for the ship and developed an educational mission rhar has given her a unique role and made her popular and successful on rhe East Coast of rhe US and in Western Europe. At the conclusion of her service in Hollywood, the owners have invited Tall Ship Newport, run by Barr Dunbar, to submit a proposal to rake over rhe ship and return the Rose to sail training. (A web sire at www.rallshiprose.org is being maintained independently by a former crew member to keep up with news of the ship in the expectation that she will be available for sail training voyages in the nor-too-distant future.) Rumors about rhe movie have been flying since before the sale rook place in March. Ir has been widely reported rhar Australian filmmaker Peter Weir (of Witness, The Truman Show, Gallipoli, and The Dead Poets' Society) is developing a film under the working ride of Master and Commander, which is the ride of the first of O 'Brian's twenry novels following rhe saga of Capt. Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin. An attorney for 20th Century Fox confirmed ro Newport This Week rhar rhe company plans to distribute the film if it is made by the independent film company slated to produce ir. -JA SEA HlSTORY 97, SUMMER 2001