Cutty Sark
13 December 2011
After more than five years of renovation and re-building Cutty Sark finally got her masts back this weekend, in another step towards re-opening in 2012.
Specialists began work on the ship early on Saturday morning and the final mast slotted into place on Sunday under leaden skies. The masts were initially removed as part of the wholesale renovation of the entire ship, which is now coming to a conclusion. They had, fortunately, already been taken down when work on the ship was interrupted by a fire which broke out on board in May 2007.
Luckily for all of us, all the deck furniture and about half the deck planking had already been taken off as well and the fire damage, although severe, wasn't nearly as bad as was first thought. Dramatic pictures, which appeared at the time, seemed to show the entire ship ablaze and led many to believe that the conservation project was triggered by the fire. In fact, the fire was probably caused by an industrial vaccuum cleaner that had been left on during the conservation work.
Anyway, that work is whizzing along and, although it's still a building site right now, Cutty Sark Trust plan to have the ship ready for visitors by Easter next year. During the conservation Cutty Sark has been raised by just over three metres and a glass structure is being built all around the ship that will roof in the space below.
Visitors will be able to see the hull which helped the ship become one of the fastest Clippers of her day from below, an angle normally reserved for ship-builders and fish. There will be an exhibition area and cafe here too - you can see the glass-work in the pictures, and find out more about how it might look underneath the roof on the Cutty Sark website.
Having the masts back is an important moment for Cutty Sark and for anyone who lives in, or visits Greenwich. Anyone can imagine, now, what the ship will look like next year when all the work is finished, and the rest of the masts, rigging and all the other sea-going bits and pieces that I don't know the names for are back in place.
If I was a big fat softie, I'd say that it feels like this famous old ship has been on a long, long journey to faraway places, but now the crests on the surf are feathering her wake as she finally, gratefully, nears her home port. But I'm not. So I won't.
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