i watched his films when i was 3 years old (1973)and from that point on i knew that i wanted to be a diver. At school the careers officer asked what i wanted to do, where everyone else wanted to be cowboys, astronauts and whatever, i told him i wanted to be a diver. I joined the army and completed my diver training and then went on to dive on the oil rigs around the world. he was my first role model
WTG David. So many of us lose touch with our childhood dreams and abandon them for what we think is a more realistic path for the future. You were able to live your dream and make it pay the bills. Consider yourself widely admired.
Thank you John, for providing a wonderful tribute to this little ship, but your efforts are not in vain? The Phoenix has risen again! Vive la France 🇫🇷
Much good work was begun on this ship, much more needs to be carried on for generations, some day we'll hear "anchors aweigh" for calypso again! Doc Mike USN
I was a boy watching all the original tv series it was fascinating. I wanted to be part of it so much. I eventually became a recreational diver and instructor working in the Caribbean. So inspired by calypso’s adventures. I hope they finish her refit. I feel very close to this it’s so amazing but yet sad and at the same time nostalgic. Calypso meant something more than just exploration 😢😮❤️🔥❤️🔥🌹
Eu conheci o Comandante Cousteau aqui no Brasil nos anos 90 . Apertei sua mao e o agradeci por me ter feito sonhar ! Agradeci tambem ao Governafor Fleury por te-lo trazido a Sao Paulo !
We are blessed to have enjoyed the many adventures of Jacques Cousteau and Company. Perhaps the slow decay of Calypso reflects the agonies inflicted on Earth by uncaring human beings.
On my mom's boat we were always talking about the Silent World and Cousteau's Contraptions. Some of the research on whale songs was done on Calypso. Not so Silent World. Mom got her boat around "83-4 so a bunch of us gotten bitten by the boat bug. Bigtime. Looking forward to that Grande Dame's Renaissance. Lost my mom recently so thank everybody for the continuing reports. Boob in the Food Barb
I'm so sad to see the state of this affair! I used to watch the Cousteau films and I read 'The Silent World' as a kid. My father had that book in his library and I devoured it again and again. I later became a military diver, rescue diver and commercial diver during my healthy youth - just because of the impression Cousteaus films made on me. But that was 'some' years ago. Now I'm middle aged and I have lost my health - and my patience with this crap! It's quite interesting that this 'very unfortunate' fire destroyed "only newly fitted pieces" of the hull but "left historic pieces intact"... What historic pieces? I've kept an eye on this project for quite some time now and when this fire "broke out", most of the hull and all of the deck was in fact "newly fitted pieces". This means that there's basically NOTHING left of the original wooden parts of Calypso at this point in time so the whole wooden hull might have been destroyed without we knowing anything about it. But the society tried to 'calm us down' - so we'd open up our wallets again, right Francine? 🤔 Another interesting fact is that NO pictures or video seems to exist post this 'unfortunate accident' (actually very little picture and video material after the Calypso left Concarneau). It seems to me that video was only shot when money grabbing from gullible sponsors and patrons was still going full steam ahead - money that was used not to pay the shipyard bills, but to mount disgusting legal procedures against Jaques granddaughter Alexandra, to prevent her from being a part of the restoration project (and preventing her from using her OWN Name in anything diving / conservation related if I understood correctly - but my French is rather rusty so I might have misinterpreted the documents to some degree). To me this whole, painful and ridiculously long affair looks like nothing more than a grand scam, pulled off by 'someone' (tm) who only wants to ride a famous name to beg for money from gullible nostalgics - me included. It was NEVER Francine's intention to restore Calypso to a seaworthy condition - as little as it ever was my intention to donate money for her to mount a lawsuit against Alexandra, Jaques grand daughter, daughter of Phillipe Cousteau who died in a 1979 plane crash. Read the court papers from the case between Piriou Shipyard and the Cousteau Society and it becomes quite clear, since they had gotten orders to only recreate the ships external appearance for 'static display' (as a floating or grounded museum). Then, when they asked for their bills to be paid, they got sued for "poor craftsmanship" but instead they got a court order to threw out Calypso or sell her if the Cousteau Society (Francine Cousteau) didn't pay up and removed the wreck from Pirious premises. Now, both Albert Falco and Claude Wesly, probably the last survivors of the original crew, have passed away and no one with genuine interest, except Cousteaus children and grandchildren, are left to follow this project - but they can only do so from a distance since a court ruled that they can have NOTHING to do with their fathers / grandfather's beloved Calypso. I very much doubt that this was Jaques intention - that his own flesh and blood would be kept out of the Society bearing their own name, and being banned from part taking in the conservation of the Cousteau legacy. (When did you enter the picture Francine - and why ?) And yes, before I forget: It's said (by the 'Cousteau Society', that every iconic feature belonging to RV / Calypso is stored so that she can be presented like we like to remember her. That's also a blatant lie. I know for a fact that several of her iconic features are sold and are now in the hands of private owners / collectors. The little Schweizer (Hughes 269C) helicopter for example, which I most definitely count as an 'iconic Calypso feature' was sold many years ago and last got a new owner in RUSSIA! Good luck buying that back! And where's 'Denise' and her custom built crane, another extremely typical 'Calypso feature'? 🤔 The last quack heard from the Cousteau Society, regarding RV/Calypso, was that the 'restoration' was set back 6 - 8 months after this 'very unfortunate fire' in Turkey (more or less a full hull worth of building time). That was FOUR years ago now in 2021. Since then zilch, nada, nothing... except for more lame money begging from the Society's website - but also this site is really showing lack of spark now. Do 'they' perhaps realize that the string has reached its tensile limit? Was the 'very unfortunate fire' maybe a better option to milk the last money worth out of the wreck of poor Calypso when 'someone' realized that we aren't that gullible anymore? So, how many of you who are reading this have thought the same as I'm suggesting here? 🤔 Are you going to sink more (or any) of your hard earned cash into this project? 🤔 Is there ANYONE who can get us some pictures post fire in Turkey and CURRENT (2021) status of the 'restoration'? 🤔 When do we (who sponsored this project), demand insight and maybe someone who actually follows this 'project' (mainly so that we know when to mount legal proceedings against Francine Cousteau for major fraud)? 🤔
What is tragic here is that Cousteau's family (more correctly, both families from his marriages) are fighting over petty issues. Cousteau would never have stood to see his loved one's argue over his every possession and use his good name to make money for themselves. Whoever buys the Calypso, I truly hope they modernize her, put a plaque with Cousteau's name on it, and begin researching the ocean once again. The ship is not dead, her parts may need replacing, but she is still alive underneath all that rust and water rot.
must be at least 2 years old, because Falco died. :( one great crew, one great ship, one great man. I am angry with the person who painted that smily face. I hate it. :( This is no laughing matter. j'étais une fleur bleue. :( I love you Cousteau, and Calypso. You've influenced my life so much.
so sad...I grou up, with that vessel,see all the chapter's with the commander...so sad,looking this die unfearless.the most importan part off mi life,is now full of rust.
The project must have hit a snag cause the last thing you can find on it is about 6 years ago, when apparently the boatyard where it was being restored said they were owed like three hundred thousand dollars. You can't find anything on it now, not that I was able to find. Clearly they never finished the project or they'd have shown it to the world again, so that's a shame.
The Calyso that small ship crossed the seas from the Arctic and Antarctic circles and the Amazon El calyso, esa pequeña nave ha recorrido los océanos circulo polar ártico y antártico y al Amazonas
Cousteau was an explorer and a showman who did his job well by introducing the public to the mysteries of the deep. He did what he loved to do and his timing was perfect. However, he was not a scientist.
Does anyone know the status of the Calypso restoration? There is nothing on the Cousteau Society site. I don't think the society is being honest and just taking money. Sad that I believe we will never see Calypso sail again. Makes me sick !
