I had the great delight of going aboard "Cutty Sark" way back in the early sixties, but I don't remember any door cut through her hull for admission ? I will never forget the sight of her as we approached, dry dock notwithstanding, her towering masts and yards all fully rigged. They had huge bales replicated and stacked down below , to simulate cargo but there was little or no "interpretation" to be seen anywhere.
I suppose that the sailing ship as epitomised by "Cutty Sark" , must have been , by far, the most beautiful and romantic method ever devised by man for the transportation of goods.
Yes I know that it meant hardships that are unknown today and would be intolerable but the sight of a ship, of any sailing rig , fully canvassed and with a fair wind must have been wonderful.
The tall ships race came here a few years ago and the ships were indeed awesome but it was "overload". One ship, sailing past, close enough initially to hear the sounds of her passage and eventually disappearing over a deserted horizon, that is how I would want to see such a vessel.
An old man told me, when I was a youngster that a neighbour of his came home from the US by sailing ship one time.The neighbour told him that on the second day out of New York, in a gale of wind, they saw a steamship on the horizon ahead. It too was bound for Ireland but they overhauled it and by sundown it had vanished again, left hull down behind them.