square rigger cape horn film

The Peking still exists and can be toured at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City < http://www.southstreetseaportmuseum.org/category-s/1875.htm >.

Irving Johnson and his wife Electa went on to operate two former pilot schooners, both renamed Yankee, on which they did circumnavigations with crews of young people. Then they built a 50-foot centerboard ketch, also named Yankee in which they traveled around Europe, including through some of the inland canals. Their travels are documented in a series of articles in National Geographic. There is at least one National Geographic TV special that features their travels in Europe < http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0842916/ >.
 
Irving Johnson gives the Disney version of life on a square-rigger. Eric Newby gives a much more realistic portrayal that includes the bad food, the bedbugs, and the hazing by other crew members. His two books are: The Last Grain Race, which was published in 1956 and is a narrative about his voyage on the Moshulu during the 1939 grain race < http://www.amazon.com/Last-Grain-Ra...F8&qid=1359208886&sr=8-17&keywords=eric+newby >, and Learning the Ropes, which is a photo book about that same voyage published in 1999 < http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Rope...F8&qid=1359208788&sr=8-10&keywords=eric+newby >. The Moshulu still exists as a restaurant in Philidelphia < http://www.moshulu.com/ >.
 
Dylan, not able to watch as not near wifi, do hope that's the footage of the guy doing handstands on a telegraph pole...

Saw it on on SailingAnarchy a while back then couldn't find it again.
 
Another book by Alan Villiers "War with Cape Horn" describes the "P" Line ships, owned by the German company "The Lieth Line". All their ships names began with a P. The one's I remember are the Potosi, Penang, and of course the Peking. The were all 4 masters, and built of steel. With the growth of steam ships, these great ships began to lose money. they needed a big crew, they were costly to maintain, and because they had no engines they couldn't take the short cut to the Pacific through the Panama canal. I believe the Norwegians were the last owners of some of these ships.
 
Laeisz owned Flying P's, string of big steel barques operated cheaply but profitably, mostly carrying nitrate (guano) from Chile to Europe round Cape Horn, with a surprisingly small crew. A horrible cargo as the dust/fumes corroded the steel rigging. Pamir was one, eventually long after Laeisz ownership, became a cargo-carrying sail training ship, and capsized in 1957 with 80 lives lost, the capsize being attributed to poor stowage of the grain cargo.

Laeisz still in existence.... http://www.laeisz.de/en/company/history.html
 
panthablue said:
I believe the Norwegians were the last owners of some of these ships.
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No, actually the last owner of most of these was Gustav Erikson, who was from Mariehamn in the Aland Islands, although part of Finland they are ethnically Swedish. I have visited three times. There is the most fantastic museum containing much from Erikson's fleet, and also Pommern is preserved, in the water, right by the museum. The first time I visited in 1962, my father and I were able to go through the drawers in the chartroom which still had the charts, with the navigation marks on them from rounding the Horn. Needless to say on my last visit (about 5 years ago) this was no longer possible. She is virtually unaltered from her cargo carrying days.
 
interloper said:
Irving Johnson gives the Disney version of life on a square-rigger. Eric Newby gives a much more realistic portrayal that includes the bad food, the bedbugs, and the hazing by other crew members. His two books are: The Last Grain Race, which was published in 1956 and is a narrative about his voyage on the Moshulu during the 1939 grain race < http://www.amazon.com/Last-Grain-Ra...F8&qid=1359208886&sr=8-17&keywords=eric+newby >, and Learning the Ropes, which is a photo book about that same voyage published in 1999 < http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Rope...F8&qid=1359208788&sr=8-10&keywords=eric+newby >. The Moshulu still exists as a restaurant in Philidelphia < http://www.moshulu.com/ >.
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+1 for the Eric Newby book ( Last Grain Race). A great account - from dead dogs in the ballast to loading guano. An un varnished account of life at the end of big working sail. How he had the balls to jump straight into this environment as a youngster is pretty astonishing, since I cannot imagine any young bloke (of these days) putting up with anything like it. I found a copy on EBay for pennies. :-)

Graeme
 
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