National Geographic: Treasures from the Past Page #4

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is destined for the scrapyard.

In her hundred-year life-span,

she sailed under many names

and many flags.

Now Elissa will be reborn.

She was launched in Aberdeen,

Scotland, in 1877.

In 1979,

her hull is made sound

and she is towed across the Atlantic

to the port city of Galveston, Texas,

which has adopted Elissa

to symbolize the heyday

of its maritime past.

Long ago she sailed into Galveston,

and it is here on

Galveston's waterfront

that Elissa's reconstruction begins.

And a course of America people

come to rebuild her

Since about 19 century commode life

the absolutely skills are learned again.

A new deck is caulked with hemp

and sealed with pitch.

Self-taught riveters add plates

to her hull.

Tree trunks are turned into masts.

Costs rise into the millions,

but funds are raised.

With a iron and wood renewed

Ellisa will sail again.

and carried in her figure-head

the spirit of those ever new her.

In 1986, Elissa is bound for New York

to once again become a part of history

Galveston's mayor being the group farewell.

terrigenous Ellisa project, David Brink.

and all of you to be vault with Ellisa.

your dream has truly grown to a miracle.

broaching the yellow rose to Texas.

Ellisa's figure head points away

a prowl to go to Mexico.

she was manned by 8 deckhands.

Today she is sailed by

hard-working volunteers.

Let's go, guys. Let's go to the sails.

Their footing is less sure,

but perhaps more eager

because they have helped to

restore and maintain her.

Executive secretary and grandmother,

Judy Peters became

a volunteer six years ago.

And I didn't know anything

but I sure that I could help it

so they like to teach me

what I need to know.

I came down literally scared to death

but I knew I wanted to help

and I knew that they needed help.

And I was willing and I was able.

Some of the job that could be hard

to do and I wouldn't.

but I'll do for free for cause of Ellisa

for the future.

Steady it on 115.

OK. That was sided to the left.

Fine, uh...

Pier, what we do is that you always

take it slight inside the long braces.

Overseeing Elissa's restoration

has been the responsibility

of Walter Rybka.

Why don't you always help Pierre

with the slacking side of the braces.

I think the key idea of

this restoration is that

this ship is not so much an artifact

as it is a process.

We're not so much concerned with her past

as we are with our future.

What we're interested in is

the values and the crafts

and the skills and everything

that gave the world this beauty.

We'd like to be a part of our lives

now and carry it forward in the future.

So the Elissa is as much a process

as it is a product.

Under gray skies,

Elissa sails north along

the Atlantic coast.

Go as far as you can till you get

where you want to stop.

John Elder, a business executive,

summons the courage to go aloft

with project director, David Brink.

Big step over to that little

crane line there.

Grab the chain with your right hand.

Swing over.

That's it. Good.

Now before you hit the foot ropes,

say "laying on" just for practice.

All the way over to the yard.

Great.

Okay, I did it.

Okay. It would help if I came over,

wouldn't it?

Just let that fall.

Okay.

Now pass that under.

Double back over.

No, no, don't pull.

No, no, don't pull

it all the way through.

As she approaches New York,

Elissa is not alone.

From all over the world,

tall ships are coming to

celebrate the restoration

of the Statue of Liberty

on her 100th birthday.

We've got the battleship Iowa

overtaking us on the port.

Traffic.

Cars.

An urban world emerges through

fog and mist.

The sight brings mixed emotions.

I think there is

a sense of possibly

letting go for the crew.

The crew thinks of Elissa as their own

and rightfully so.

We're the folks that have maintained

her and sailed her up till now.

We don't mind sharing her

with everyone else,

but there is a little bit of a

feeling of letting her go.

After the rest of this weekend,

particularly Friday,

she's not going to belong to

just us anymore.

She's going to belong to the world.

Elissa last entered New York Harbor

in 1884,

just two years before

the Statue of Liberty was unveiled.

Today a crew of volunteers has

brought her here once again,

and after a century,

two ladies greet each other

for the very first time.

The moment is savored by the crew,

but the celebration is about to begin.

The spectacle unfolds,

and Elissa takes her place.

She is the oldest of the large square

riggers in the parade.

Not long ago,

Liberty welcomed tall ships

from around the world

to a flourishing America.

Today, one by one,

tall ships return to salute her,

as America renews her past.

Elissa has earned

her place in history,

and now her moment has come.

It's amazing just to think how it

all comes down to one moment.

Here you are.

Everybody knows.

It's a great, great feeling.

She passes the reviewing stands

that line the shore.

Everybody was so proud of her

that she was there,

she was volunteers had done it.

And it made everybody see that

anybody can be a part of restoration.

You don't have to be a somebody.

It takes all the

little people to do it.

Volunteers have brought life to a

dying ship

and have restored the knowledge

that can renew her again and again.

Revived with the human spirit,

fragments of our past

become our treasures.

They mirror who we are.

They become living monuments

to the achievements of out past

and living testaments

to our hopes for the future.

Passing though the hands of

one crew to the next,

a tall ship is on a

journey through time.

Perhaps in years to come

the sight of her sails will

inspire others to voyage forth...

to fulfill their destinies...

to cherish their treasures

as they cross new horizons to places

that live today only in our dreams.

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