Before the Falls
Sep 10, 2008 |
A group of concerned citizens is one step closer to its goal of saving the historic sailing vessel Falls of Clyde after meeting with Bishop Museum officials last week. Bruce McEwan, president of the Friends of Falls of Clyde, says he is optimistic that a deal can be reached in time to save the ship, but time is running out and the fate of the Honolulu waterfront landmark is still far from certain.
Falls of Clyde, built in 1875 in Port Glasgow, Scotland, is the only sail-powered oil tanker remaining in the world and one of a handful of four-masted schooners left afloat. It was until this year the sole remaining fully rigged vessel of its kind, but mounting costs have left the ship in dire straits. In February, based on a report on the ship’s structural condition submitted in late 2007, museum officials announced that unless $32 million could be found for critical repairs and upkeep, Falls of Clyde would be scuttled off the Wai’anae coast in June.
While the ship’s sagging fortunes have long been evident, the scuttling announcement spawned increased urgency for many members of the Caledonian Society of Hawai’i, the Scottish heritage organization that has been vocal in its support for greater funding for the Falls of Clyde over the years. Led by Young Brothers executive McEwan, a subset of Caledonian Society members moved late last month to incorporate the Friends of Falls of Clyde with an eye toward assuming ownership of the ship and initiating what members say may be a much less costly restoration than museum officials have forecast.
“You can’t challenge that [the museum's $32 million estimate] is inaccurate,” McEwan said as he filed the group’s articles of incorporation late last month. “But we’re not talking about $32 million right now. Let’s get started with it.”
To that end, the Friends of Falls of Clyde proposed a $1 transfer of ownership of the vessel. McEwan also announced on Aug. 28 that the Friends had secured an agreement in principle with Marisco, Ltd., to put the schooner in dry-dock for urgent repairs as early as September, pending the museum’s willingness to cut ties with the ship.
Last week, McEwan met with with Tim Johns, the museum’s president, and Blair Collis, a museum vice-president who oversees the Hawai’i Maritime Center, to gauge Bishop Museum’s response to the group’s incorporation and proposal. Following that meeting, draft language was exchanged that would transfer ownership to the Friends, provided the group could produce evidence of insurance and a Coast Guard-approved towing plan, and could do so within 60 days.
“If they wanted to take it today, they could take it,” Johns says, “as long as the insurance is covered.” He says he has the board’s authorization to sell, move or scuttle the ship, and that timing is the critical issue. “If it’s two or three months, I have to talk to the board, because they want it moved as soon as possible.”
McEwan understands that the timing of the Falls of Clyde’s removal from its Pier 7 berth is a potential hang-up to any deal and is working to secure a detailed agreement with Marisco. The trouble, he says, is that Marisco representatives in turn are waiting for the sale to occur before committing space to the Falls of Clyde, leaving the Friends without a hard removal date. “Availability is still a little uncertain,” he says. “I don’t know whether the 60 days is doable.” McEwan is hopeful that if a transfer could come as early as the end of this week, it would open up a window through mid-November to which the shipyard could commit.
