(1) York, Micheal De Dutton 2006 'All Hands on Deck: The Restoration of the James Craig', Citrus Press, Broadway NSW
(2) Toghill, Jeff, 2003 'The James Craig Story', Sydney Maritime Museum Ltd
(3) YouTube - James Craig Tall Ship 2007. (n.d.). Retrieved July 22, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGmNtfKmLwE
(4)James Craig. (n.d.). Retrieved July 22, 2009, from http://www.boatregister.net/JamesCraig.html
(5) James Craig - Square Rigger on Flickr - Photo Sharing!. (n.d.). Retrieved July 22, 2009, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/iansand/58697763/
(6) james craig barque - Google Blog Search. (n.d.). Retrieved July 22, 2009, from http://blogsearch.google.com.au/blogsearch_feeds?hl=en&q=james+craig+barque&ie=utf-8&num=10&output=rss
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Process
I chose this topic for a number of reasons. Primarily as I have an interest in tallships, and Australian maritime history, and I had the opportunity to visit the ship at the 2009 Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart. The restoration of the ship also interested me as my father-in-law had previously described its condition in Recherche Bay when he had visited it as a child.
I looked for information on the ship which would give me as much as possible a history of it from launching to current date. Of particular interest were any photographs of it pre-Recherche Bay days and a description of the restoration process.
With the age of the ship, print resources were likely to be the most likely available so a TALIS search was conducted using the search terms 'James Craig', 'James Craig Tall Ship' and 'James Craig Barque'. These produced the required results of two print publications detailing the restoration (1),(2). 'James Craig' by itself produced a large number of unrelated items. A 'google' search for 'James Craig' ship produced some 400,000 hits but one of the first was the powerpoint presentation on the restoration (4). This did not appear in either 'James Craig tall ship' or 'James Craig barque'searches.
The search for a blog with an RSS feed was extended and fruitless for one which was dedicated to the ship. The most likely would have been the Sydney Heritage Fleet site which regularly updates details on its vessels however it does not have this facility. Many blogs which had James Craig as a tag were only single photographs of the ship as part of someones trip and which had an RSS feed of the trip as a whole. I ended up doing a feed to my iGoogle page for any reference in blogs to 'James Craig barque'(6).
For photographs I searched 'flickr' for 'James Craig barque' and 'James Craig tall ship'. Both of these produced many results with a large number duplicated. The photograph of James Craig under sail on Sydney Harbour is one of them (5).
For overall information on the James Craig the York book by was the most useful although time consuming to read. The book provided the basis for my overall search for information and enabled me to structure my search and assess the usefulness of information gained in relation to the history of the James Craig.
During the online search process I kept a Word document open, and used this to record search parameters and results, and cut and pasted relevant infomation including website URLs to it. This provided me with an ongoing record of where I had found information. Great in theory, but if you do not keep the record up to date then information can not be attributed and used or a great deal of time is wasted in going back trying to find where the information came from.
I looked for information on the ship which would give me as much as possible a history of it from launching to current date. Of particular interest were any photographs of it pre-Recherche Bay days and a description of the restoration process.
With the age of the ship, print resources were likely to be the most likely available so a TALIS search was conducted using the search terms 'James Craig', 'James Craig Tall Ship' and 'James Craig Barque'. These produced the required results of two print publications detailing the restoration (1),(2). 'James Craig' by itself produced a large number of unrelated items. A 'google' search for 'James Craig' ship produced some 400,000 hits but one of the first was the powerpoint presentation on the restoration (4). This did not appear in either 'James Craig tall ship' or 'James Craig barque'searches.
The search for a blog with an RSS feed was extended and fruitless for one which was dedicated to the ship. The most likely would have been the Sydney Heritage Fleet site which regularly updates details on its vessels however it does not have this facility. Many blogs which had James Craig as a tag were only single photographs of the ship as part of someones trip and which had an RSS feed of the trip as a whole. I ended up doing a feed to my iGoogle page for any reference in blogs to 'James Craig barque'(6).
For photographs I searched 'flickr' for 'James Craig barque' and 'James Craig tall ship'. Both of these produced many results with a large number duplicated. The photograph of James Craig under sail on Sydney Harbour is one of them (5).
For overall information on the James Craig the York book by was the most useful although time consuming to read. The book provided the basis for my overall search for information and enabled me to structure my search and assess the usefulness of information gained in relation to the history of the James Craig.
During the online search process I kept a Word document open, and used this to record search parameters and results, and cut and pasted relevant infomation including website URLs to it. This provided me with an ongoing record of where I had found information. Great in theory, but if you do not keep the record up to date then information can not be attributed and used or a great deal of time is wasted in going back trying to find where the information came from.
Restoration as a Living Ship
James Craig lay in the mud of Recherche Bay until 1972 falling into a great state of disrepair. In 1972 the Sydney Museum decided to attempt to restore the vessel to a sailing state. Over the next 29 years the vessel was restored to surveyed sailing condition. She was raised from Recherche Bay and towed to Hobart in 1973 where she sat for the next 8 years (sinking once). She was then towed to Sydney where the extensive job of restoring her to sailing trim began.
The work was undertaken by an army of volunteer labour, and during it many forgotten skills in shipbuilding were passed on by a generation of older tradesmen to an enthusiastic new generation. These skills are used in the upkeep of the James Craig. One of the more interesting discussions about the future of the ship was whether to restore her completely authentically, and retain her as a static display or to restore her with some new technology to use her as a living ship and thus fund her ongoing maintenance by using her for fare paying passengers. The decision to proceed in the second direction was more costly but has produced a beautifil sailing ship which people can enjoy sailing on for short day sails or longer transits, such as the recent one to Tasmania for the 2009 Australian Wooden Boat Festival. A YouTube video gives an idea of what it is like to sail on the ship (3). An excellent website with a powerpoint presentation on the restoration is the boat register site. (4).
The work was undertaken by an army of volunteer labour, and during it many forgotten skills in shipbuilding were passed on by a generation of older tradesmen to an enthusiastic new generation. These skills are used in the upkeep of the James Craig. One of the more interesting discussions about the future of the ship was whether to restore her completely authentically, and retain her as a static display or to restore her with some new technology to use her as a living ship and thus fund her ongoing maintenance by using her for fare paying passengers. The decision to proceed in the second direction was more costly but has produced a beautifil sailing ship which people can enjoy sailing on for short day sails or longer transits, such as the recent one to Tasmania for the 2009 Australian Wooden Boat Festival. A YouTube video gives an idea of what it is like to sail on the ship (3). An excellent website with a powerpoint presentation on the restoration is the boat register site. (4).
History of the James Craig
The James Craig was originally built in Sunderland in England in 1874 and was launched as the Clan Macleod. She was used to carry general cargo between England, New Zealand and the United Staes with the occassional visit to Australia. Below the main deck the entire hull was used for storage of cargo. The hull itself was made of iron as were the major parts of the masts and lower yards. Iron was used in shipbuilding because of its strength not its longevity.
The ship was transferred into the ownership of Mr JJ Macleod of Auckland in 1900 and was renamed the James Craig after his eldest son in 1905. The ship was now used mainly in the trans-Tasman route again carrying general cargo.
In 1911 with steamships supplanting sailing ships in the carriage of cargo James Craig was uneconomical to run and so was sold to a company in New Guinea, stripped of all her upperworks and used as a copra hulk for seven years.
A reprieve was granted in 1918 as much of the available steamship fleet has been destroyed in World War One and anything that could float and carry cargo was being used again. James Craig's Tasmanian connection was formed with Henry Jones' IXL company buying her for a general suply vessel, which lasted until 1922 when she again became uncompetitive with steamships.
James Craig again was stripped down and became a coal hulk for the Catamaran Coasl Mining Company until 1930 when the coal mine closed. That chapter of the James Craig's life finished when she was scuttled in Recherche Bay Tasmania by blowing a three metre wide hole in the stern to avoid her becoming a navigation hazard.
The ship was transferred into the ownership of Mr JJ Macleod of Auckland in 1900 and was renamed the James Craig after his eldest son in 1905. The ship was now used mainly in the trans-Tasman route again carrying general cargo.
In 1911 with steamships supplanting sailing ships in the carriage of cargo James Craig was uneconomical to run and so was sold to a company in New Guinea, stripped of all her upperworks and used as a copra hulk for seven years.
A reprieve was granted in 1918 as much of the available steamship fleet has been destroyed in World War One and anything that could float and carry cargo was being used again. James Craig's Tasmanian connection was formed with Henry Jones' IXL company buying her for a general suply vessel, which lasted until 1922 when she again became uncompetitive with steamships.
James Craig again was stripped down and became a coal hulk for the Catamaran Coasl Mining Company until 1930 when the coal mine closed. That chapter of the James Craig's life finished when she was scuttled in Recherche Bay Tasmania by blowing a three metre wide hole in the stern to avoid her becoming a navigation hazard.
Purpose of blog
The purpose of the blog is to submit a brief assignment as part of a tertiary subject in Information Literacy. The subject covers an introduction to and the use of much new and unfamiliar Web 2.0 technology and I have decided to submit my assignment in the form of this blog. The subject I have chosen for the assignment is the barque James Craig owned and maintained by the Sydney Heritage Fleet.
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