One of the problems with ships as an historic artifact
is:

1.  When in the water an exposed to elements, they
have to be maintained including an occasional
dry-docking which gets expensive very fast.

and 2. If kept out of water in a dry display, gravity
can play a lot of havoc on a ships structure. 
Boats/ships since the beggining of time were designed
to float, not to sit on dry land.

The additional thought of moving them only adds to the
dilemma.

--- George Myers <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Just as a footnote (I have the "Vasa" book which I
> wonder if they
> would chance move). Perhaps you might imagine, we in
> New York City had
> a number of archaeological projects in the landfill
> the Dutch began
> back in the "swampy" era of Manhattan, mostly near
> the South Street
> Seaport, where prevailing winds would carry ships
> away from docks on
> the East River (or Sound River, connecting through
> Hellsgate "light
> gate" to the "Mediterranean-like" environment of the
> Long Island
> Sound) without towing (which would have been
> required on the Hudson
> River side, though steam-power opened it up to all
> sorts of riverside
> development.
> 
> You might imagine my surprise one day walking down
> to the dock at the
> South Street Seaport, a museum of ships too, one the
> "Peking" might be
> "returned" to Germany) when there tied up to the
> dock was a fairly
> large Norse ship, and instead of the "black" very
> wooden colored. It
> had been made in the Midwest of the United States
> along the lines of
> the excavated ships and had been sailed through the
> Great Lakes into
> New York and was flying an American flag!
> Fortunately I had a camera
> to take some pictures for surely someone might think
> on the recounting
> I was making it up!
> 
> As I recall once a then Mayor Koch issued a
> proclamation officially
> apologizing to some Scandinavians that had been
> arrested like then 80
> years past that had been celebrating their crossing
> of the Atlantic
> Ocean to New York in a Viking replica and on the way
> to the ship had
> been overly boisterous in the early morning hours
> and had been hauled
> in. There is a Leif Erikson Park in Brooklyn next to
> Fort Hamilton and
> a monument in New Rochelle, NY, not far from the New
> York City line.
> 
> I hope these world heritage artifacts aren't "just
> moved" and damaged
> due to all the interesting history associated with
> them and the
> various Norwegian Halls in the US.
> 
> George Myers
> 


Cheers,

Brad Holderman
619.994.6686
"Dear Jack, We have a ship, Surprise, for the East Indies, and must join at Plymouth instantly..."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/multimedia/star/

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