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).