The C. A. Thayer is back!

Subject: The C. A. Thayer is back!
From: Franz S.
Date: 14 Apr 07 - 01:24 PM

The lumber ship C. A. Thayer is back at the Maritime Park pier in San Francisco after years of restoration. Does this mean that the monthly chantey sings will return to the Thayer's hold? Nothing against the Balclutha, but sitting on metal folding chairs is just not the same as sitting on ship's timbers. And I believe the Thayer's hold has (had?) better acoustics.

Can't make a blue clicky (tried three times) so here's the story address: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/13/BAGH9P7VQN1.DTL

Now if only someone would come up with enough millions to restore the Wapama in SF and the Wawona in Seattle!

Is this a BS thread, Joe?

---

BS thread? Nope - the Thayer is one of the nicest music venues I know of. See you there soon, I hope.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: The C. A. Thayer is back!
From: Amos
Date: 14 Apr 07 - 01:31 PM

Here's the link to the story.

A

Subject: RE: The C. A. Thayer is back!
From: Franz S.
Date: 14 Apr 07 - 01:43 PM

Amos,

Unfortunately, that link turns up "Item not found", even though I copied it directly from their website. Thanks anyhow.

Subject: RE: The C. A. Thayer is back!
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Apr 07 - 06:15 PM

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
C.A. Thayer rechristened
Historic schooner rebuilt for $14 million at Alameda hangar
Carl Nolte, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, April 13, 2007

The historic sailing schooner C.A. Thayer was rechristened Thursday at the Maritime National Park in San Francisco, marking the completion of a $14 million, three-year rebuilding job on the 112-year-old vessel.

The Thayer is one of only two survivors of a fleet of hundreds of sailing vessels that carried lumber along the West Coast in the heyday of coastal shipping. Ships like the Thayer helped build San Francisco, Oakland and other California cities by bringing in the timber that built the region's famous Victorian houses.

The ships called at large ports, like San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles, as well as tiny landings on the Mendocino coast -- harbors called "dog hole ports,'' so small, the sailors said that a dog could hardly turn around in them.

The Thayer itself was built at Fairhaven, a small town near Eureka in Humboldt County. After years as a lumber ship and a later career as a cod fishing vessel in Alaska, the Thayer became a museum ship in 1957. The ship was designed to last only 20 years, and was well over a century old when a massive rebuilding job became necessary. The ship was towed to Bay Ship and Yacht Co. in Alameda in 2004 and almost completely rebuilt by the National Park Service. The cost was $14 million.

The Thayer was taken out of the water and rebuilt at a former airplane hangar in Alameda. The project, said historian Steve Canright, "is a piece of wooden shipbuilding that has not been seen in this country since ... World War I." Canright is the historian for the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, which owns the ship.

Visitors can see the Thayer alongside the Hyde Street Pier. The vessel is not yet open to the public.

E-mail Carl Nolte at [e-mail].
This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Subject: RE: The C. A. Thayer is back!
From: GUEST,Rev
Date: 14 Apr 07 - 10:58 PM

Welcome Home Thayer! I hope you hold many chantey sings to come.

Subject: RE: The C. A. Thayer is back!
From: Stewart
Date: 15 Apr 07 - 12:52 AM

Yes, if only her sister ship the Wawona in Seattle was so fortunate.

Congratulations! We in Seattle are envious.

Cheers, S. in Seattle

Subject: RE: The C. A. Thayer is back!
From: Barry Finn
Date: 15 Apr 07 - 01:53 AM

Inside the CA Thayer (before)

Congrats to the National Park Service for having the sensibilities & good judgement to restore her. I hope she'll have at least another 25 yrs of singing in her hull.

during & after photos

Barry

Subject: RE: The C. A. Thayer is back!
From: Franz S.
Date: 15 Apr 07 - 11:28 AM

Thanks for the link, Barry. Great photos.

Yeah, Stewart, The Wawona and the Arthur Foss in Seattle and the Wapama in the Bay Area desperately need similar care. Not to mention the Kalakala. There must be someone(s) out there with both the money and the love.

A couple of decades ago my dad and I visited the Wapama (http://www.noehill.com/sf/landmarks/nat1973000228.asp) when she was still at the Hyde Street Pier. My dad was a marine engineer, now retired. He's not so much anti-authority as oblivious to it, so he didn't hesitate when we came to the chain across the gangway with the "No Admittance: Authorized Personnel Only" sign. He stepped over it, I followed nervously, and we looked through windows and down hatches all over.
Finally we looked down a hatch and saw two green-clad legs stretched out a couple of decks below. Dad yelled done, "Can an old engineer come down to look at your power plant". A voice from below yelled back, "Do you know anything about triple-expansion steam plants?" Dad modestly allowed that he'd worked on them most of his life. "Well, I haven't. Come on down."
So the ranger and I then received a short course on the history and workings of the Wapama's plant and others of her genre, some of which I remember. I don't recall that Dad solved the ranger's problem, but a good time was had by all.

The next time I went back to the Hyde Street Pier the Wapama was gone. I'd like to have her back.