Calypso Saved!

Francine Cousteau, President of the Cousteau Society and sister organization Equipe Cousteau, has accomplished what may be Calypso´s most challenging voyage. Under Mrs. Cousteau´s direction, the mythical ship of Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau has arrived at the Piriou Shipyard in Brittany, France, where she will be completely refurbished. The restoration of the famous ship will take as long as a year to complete but Calypso will sail again as an ambassador for the seas and oceans, carrying the legacy of Captain Cousteau and the Cousteau flag all around the world.

The sturdy wooden minesweeper has seen many reincarnations - as a ferry, an oceanic research vessel, a television icon and a sad victim of a 1997 collision in Singapore. For the past eleven years, Mrs. Cousteau has fought to resurrect her as an inspiration for future generations and a platform for education and science. At last, the day has been won, as Calypso arrived at a shipyard that specializes in restoring historic vessels, ready to be reborn.

You can contribute to the Cousteau Society and support our efforts to continue the history of Calypso as a symbol of the legacy of Captain Cousteau. Click here to make a donation.

Calypso out of the water: "One more step"

Calypso out of the water: "One more step" At 12:20 pm, Francine Cousteau smiled widely with self-congratulations for the successful raising of Calypso from the water: "She´s out. She´s looking good." Firmly anchored on the lift, the ship still has 600 m to travel to reach the FCRN shipyards. This should be done at the end of the week.

"The hardest part was to get her underway," acknowledges Patrice Quesnel, captain of Alcyone and head of operations for Calypso. Operations began early in the morning when tugs and a pilot boat took charge and gently maneuvered the ship, on which Francine Cousteau positioned herself, to the lift where, over the next several hours, each one executed tiny steps to help the mythical vessel get out of the water.

The expedition in Greece

"It´s delicate work, seeing the state the ship´s in," notes one of the workers, especially since "we don´t know much about what´s underneath," added another. Once she was centered, Calypso was "beached." The operation they called "delicate," resting the ship on her own structure, went off without a hitch to the great relief of Francine Cousteau. "It´s one more step, a delicate one technically speaking, "she underlines. "But the next time she is there, she´ll be completely new. That´s a wonderful goal!" Relieved to see the ship taken out of the water without a stumble, Francine Cousteau glowed. On the quays, the public watched the operation with interest, and emotion, too, on the face of Penmarchais [person from Penmarch, nearby town] Yves Gourlaouen, Calypso´s captain in 1976-1977. "I was on the expedition in Greece," explains the man who kept up "good relations" with the Captain.

The Captain´s mission

Eleven years after she sank in Singapore, nine years after she was last out of the water in La Rochelle, Calypso leaves her element slowly. It is 12:20 pm. "She´s out. She´s looking good." From now on, eyes will be on the FCRN shipyards, charged with giving the ship a new future. The goal will be to "further the Captain´s mission," reaffirms Francine Cousteau. "She will not stay in one place. She will be an ambassador for the environment. Wherever she is invited, there she will have to go." A Francine Cousteau who, once the work is done, considers anchoring Calypso in Concarneau a possibility, confides, "It would be good for her to stay after the repairs are done." But first her condition must be checked out and a diagnosis drawn up. Toward the end of the week, the ship will be transferred on a rail car, tranquilly moving the last meters that separate her from a new youth.