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1-20 March 2015

3/20/2015

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Today was a special day for Friends of Falls of Clyde as we supported our legislative Grant-In-Aid application. Below is the testimony we presented. We want to share it so that those advocating for our mission can be informed:

Informational Briefing on Grant-In-Aid Applications

Before Senate Committee on Ways & Means and House Committee on Finance

March 20, 2015 

Mahalo Senators Tokuda and Kouchi and Representatives Luke and Nishimoto for allowing me to speak on behalf of Friends of Falls of Clyde’s application for funds to drydock the National Historic Landmark vessel, Falls of Clyde. My name is Bruce McEwan and I am president of the all-volunteer Friends of Falls of Clyde 501(c)(3) corporation.

I would like to stress that we are talking about a National Historic Landmark. Falls of Clyde, built in 1878, is the only surviving four-masted, iron-hulled sailing oil tanker in the world and Hawaii has been honored to have her in Honolulu Harbor for over 50 years.

 Here are points we feel are significant to support funding for her drydocking:

 

  1. As the only surviving sailing oil tanker in the world, Falls of Clyde is recognized worldwide for its unique position in maritime history.

     

  2. The Falls of Clyde has been a maritime museum source to educate school children and other local and out-of-state visitors for decades, which made the ship an economic driver at the Hawaii Maritime Center. The ship also gave the public access to the commercial waterfront, which is so important to Honolulu.

     

  3. The ship has been a unique venue for events for individuals and organizations locally.

     

  4. As an island state, Hawaii has a long maritime history and a dependence on the maritime industry. The Falls of Clyde is the only existing symbol we have of the long period of commercial sailing vessels. She fits the gap between the original sailing vessels like Hokulea and the modern vessels that are in and out of the harbor on a daily basis. As a commercial sailing vessel, Falls of Clyde was the predecessor to the modern ships in the Matson fleet and the tug and barge service of Young Brothers.

     

  5. There are many local people who have deep emotional feelings about Falls of Clyde because of visits made to her over the years and her importance to our community. Friends of Falls of Clyde members are frequently approached by people when we are working on the ship to talk story about their memories.

  1. Based on the 2009 Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 138 we feel the legislature should support our funding:
“BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the

State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the House of Representatives

concurring, that the Falls of Clyde is recognized as a historic symbol of

Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Falls of Clyde should be treasured and protected by the State of Hawaii and its residents.”

 

We acknowledge that the previous owner let the ship deteriorate to its present condition, but Friends of Falls of Clyde have been meticulous in our efforts to assure that the ship’s physical condition is solid. We have brought in experts over the past several years to conduct surveys and all have been positive. In 2014 we worked out a scope of work for a drydock with Pacific Shipyard International and they have committed to taking her into drydock once we have the funds. We are working on a capital campaign and financial support by the State will go a long way in getting other funders to commit to our mission to preserve and restore Falls of Clyde for the benefit of our community.

 

Mahalo for your consideration of our application.

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1-28 February 2015

3/5/2015

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February was a quiet month until February 14, when a major surge hit Honolulu Harbor. The surge was greater than the ship has experienced and it rolled outward enough to pull the gangway off of its platform. Fortunately, volunteer Susan Yamamoto was in the area and heard the crash. Calls were made to Friends of Falls of Clyde board members and board member Fred Nunes was available and came down to Pier 7, where he and Susan moved the platform to keep it from being pushed into the building. Calls were made for other volunteers and Keven Williamson and one of his volunteers from  USS Missouri named Jeff responded. A call to Rick Wilson at Foss Maritime brought down the crew from the tug Pi`ilani: Capt. Jeff Page and crew members Chris Vincent and Bruno Fonota-Ulufale. The gangway was secured to a dolly to allow it to move with the ship’s motion. A big mahalo to all of these volunteers.

On February 21, volunteers moved the platform back into position and replaced the gangway. They also attached chains to the gangway and platform so that the gangway will not be pulled off. They also tightened some of the lines on the ship to prevent it from moving too far outboard. Thanks to board members Fred Nunes, Kevin hart, and Bruce McEwan and volunteer Bill MacGillivray.



Picture
We continue to work on the poop deck to seal it and restore the charthouse. This is our first main deck project. Meanwhile, we are still in the early stages of preparing our capital campaign to raise the funds we need for drydocking of the ship to have the hull preserved. 



Picture
Now that the Grant-In-Aid (GIA) application has been filed with the legislature, it is important that supporters of the preservation and restoration of Falls of Clyde monitor the legislature to see when a hearing may be held on all of the GIA applications so that testimony in support of our application can be submitted. Here are some reasons to give others, including legislators, for the funding to preserve and restore the Falls of Clyde:

  1. Hawaii should be honored to have a National Historic Landmark as part of our waterfront.

  2. The Falls of Clyde is the only surviving iron-hulled, four-masted sailing oil tanker in the world, which makes it a tourist draw for maritime history enthusiasts.

  3. The Falls of Clyde has been in Honolulu Harbor for over 50 years and has been a maritime museum source to educate school children and other visitors.

  4. The ship has been a unique venue for events for individuals and organizations.

  5. As an island state, Hawaii has a long maritime history and a dependence on the maritime industry. The Falls of Clyde is the only existing symbol we have of the long period of commercial sailing vessels. She fits the gap between the original sailing vessels like Hokulea and the modern vessels that are in and out of the harbor on a daily basis. As a commercial sailing vessel, Falls of Clyde was the predecessor to the modern ships in the Matson fleet and the tug and barge service of Young Brothers.   

  6. There are many local people who have deep emotional feelings about Falls of Clyde because  of visits made to her over the years and her importance to our community.

If you have other reasons to add from your own personal experience, feel free to add them.

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    Bruce McEwan, President

    We know that there is great interest in the future of the Falls of Clyde. There is a lot going on that the Board of Directors is dealing with, so we felt that keeping stakeholders involved through a report on our website is the easiest way to reach our worldwide audience.

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