Schooner Amistad future uncertain

[jbelwood]

Sad news indeed. I followed her build and launch in Mystic back then.

 

http://wtnh.com/2014/11/24/future-of-the-schooner-amistad-is-uncertain/

 

John Elwood

[trippwj]

It is a sad situation - and so very many questions remain unanswered related to the financial management by the organization.  Of course, it didn't help when the former Executive Director resigned, went to work for another Non-profit as the Executive Director, which coincidentally had been hired to manage the Amistad....second non-profit is now, also, undergoing a major shake-up (the afore mentioned Exec Director is no longer with the second non-profit either).

 

Sigh...for all the gory details check out the series of articles in the New London Day newspaper dating back to 2012, and also in some of the Maine media related to the Harvey Gamage.

[uss frolick]

I can imagine six-figure non-profit public-relations executive salaries getting paid, while the carpenters and sailors get stiffed ...

[capnharv2]

First, I want to apologize for getting on my soapbox, but this type of issue is one of my pet peeves.

 

Don't get me wrong-I love tall ships. Some do well. But a lot of them (it seems to me) in the US are created by a committee (few members, if any, are acquainted with the regulation, upkeep and use of a tall ship) that says "Let's build a tall ship to commemorate our (fill in the blank here). It will be a great tourist draw!

 

Very little thought is put into annual maintenance costs, moorage, meeting CG regs, rebuild costs (they do need rebuilding), etc. Few look at what they expect the ship to do (or be capable of doing) in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years down the road. And costs go up exponentially with size.

 

And often, as a result, a new tall ship is launched with lots of fanfare and celebration. After 5 years, it's a financial burden on whomever said they would take care of her. 10 years after, the organization is looking for a dreamer to take the reins so they can get out from under it.

 

I really wish I could think of more tall ships that are successful. It seems that tall ships built and maintained outside the United States fare better, partly because of help from their governments.

 

It's sad to see Amistad falling on hard times. When will we ever learn. . .

 

Okay, off my soapbox.

 

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

Harvey

[Jimz66]

WOW this is first I heard of this, and I am only an hour north of her. Thats a real shame.