num_pages: 176
description: They said it could never happen, that it was a project with magnificent scope for failure but the James Craig today is a true restoration of one of the great sailing vessels from a bygone age. This is the 22-year story of overwhelming and impossible tasks, the relearning of forgotten skills, and the perseverance, bloody-mindedness, dedication and generosity of volunteer workers and skilled craftspeople whose efforts turned a vision into reality. The James Craig is a 19th century iron-hulled clipper ship, built in Sunderland, U.K. She then plied her trade along the North American coast including New York and Portland, Oregon as well as in the southern hemisphere. She had been abandoned as a rusting hulk for many years in a quiet Tasmanian bay when the San Francisco Maritime Museum and the Sydney Maritime Museum both became aware of her existence and both were interested in salvaging and restoring her. Such was the James Craig's importance as one of the few restorable sailing ships of its era in the world, that the San Francisco Museum was prepared to ship her back to America for the museum. The Sydney Maritime Museum won the day, and the book is the story of the early sailing days of James Craig , the 22 years it took to restore her, and finally her return to glory under sail. The book is splendidly illustrated with photographs dating back to 1889, step-by-step through the restoration process, and of course her return as a glorious sea-going sailing ship. It is largely told through the voices of many of those who were involved in the salvage and restoration process.
language: English
title: All Hands on Deck: the Restoration of the James Craig
publisher: CitrusPress