Page 21: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2020)

Altogether it would be the boat of Jacques Cousteau’s (and my) dreams. There is actually only one big change that I would make and that relates to the history of the Bear herself and too many other great ships and boats.

Depending on how you count, the Bear had an active career that exceeded 70 years. She then saw reduced service and sank at nearly 90 years of age, while she was under tow to be- come a static exhibit vessel. Apparently she lost a mast when the tow line broke, and sank when her hull was punctured by the mast. I am sure her 70-year life was the result of both her

Swiss army knife capabilities and her extremely heavy wooden construction to allow ice service. Nevertheless, almost certain- ly, she was removed from active service when her hull mainte- nance became too much of a burden. Many ships like this are then regarded as potential museum vessels, but museum vessel economics are extremely problematic and museum status is re- ally only a sad testament to a vessel’s loss of vitality.

Let’s face it, the Bear did not die because she was obsolete, but rather because her hull structure was worn out. Remark- ably, based on my wish list for a Bear replica outlined above, I could have modernized the original Bear for my mission if her hull had not worn out.

That indicates that if I were to build my Bear replica today, I should build her with an unlimited hull life. That would mean I would build her out of stainless steel, or even better; titanium.

Nobody uses those material for large vessel construction. So am I crazy? Or is the whole world wrong and am I right? I think I am right in this case and there may be other cases too.

I was frst confronted with titanium as a hull material about 20 years ago. A friend of mine, Capt. Craig Tafoya, told me he had good connections with Russian titanium suppliers and

Revenue Cutter Bear before WWI. “This ship is the best looking Swiss army knife I have ever seen.”