After people fell through the rotting deck of the great four-masted barque Peking, South Street Seaport Museum staff placed sheets of plywood over the holes. The ship's rusted bowsprit is in danger of collapsing. Hull corrosion, frayed rigging and peeling paint are plain to see.

Waterfront advocates around the city are concerned. "Boats in general require constant maintenance, and older boats need that much more," said Tom Berton, the founder of Manhattan By Sail, a commercial operation that offers sails on the Clipper City and the historic Shearwater. "Every week that goes by where there's not competent, diligent and moneyed attention lavished on these boats, even at a modest level you're losing ground. And when you lose ground, it costs much more to fix."

Docked nearby on the East River waterfront, the Museum's Marion M., the last wooden-hulled chandlery lighter used in New York Harbor (see photo below), is not in good shape, nor is the tug Helen McAllister, a stalwart vessel busy in the first half of the 20th century. No longer in running condition, the tug is virtually abandoned. On occasion, homeless people slip through the open cabin doors and take shelter.

Two photos above by Robert Simko

The wrought-iron Wavertree languishes alongside the tug. The historic sailing ship underwent restoration at Caddell Dry Dock in 1998, but it has since deteriorated, with peeling paint and hull corrosion among the more visible problems. 

Across Pier 16 floats the Ambrose, the Museum's cheery red lightship. Below the waterline, an old leak patched years ago has reopened and more than 1,000 gallons of water has seeped into the bilge. "If the patch fails there's going to be a big hole underwater, which is a very bad place to have a hole on a boat," said Michael Abegg, the Museum's Chief Mate who was fired last Wednesday. He had been with the Museum, as a volunteer and staff member, since the early 1990s.

At the end of the month, the Museum's dockmaster, Don Boye, is resigning, following a trail of fired, furloughed or resigned Museum employees and trustees. While the museum's floundering is common knowledge, less media attention has focused on the
deteriorating ships themselves. Who will take care of these irreplaceable vessels?

"A ship not cared for is a ship headed for the bottom," said Brendan Sexton, former NYC Sanitation Commissioner, former Municipal Art Society President and currently of the Sexton Company, who has taken a strong interest in the fate of the Seaport Museum and its ships. He shared reports on each Seaport vessel, compiled this past January by marine surveyor and consultant Joseph Lombardi, who runs Ocean Technical Services. In some cases, Mr. Lombardi boarded the Museum vessels; in other cases he observed the vessels from the dock or an adjacent boat. After detailing each vessel's condition, he estimated the current market value and the cost of restoration. Value and condition varies widely -- and it's not all bad news. Both schooners -- the wooden Lettie G. Howard, built in 1893, and the iron/steel Pioneer, built in 1885 -- are estimated to be worth a quarter million dollars each and are described as in good shape. The historic Peking, however, one of the largest sailing ships ever built, which Mr. Lombardi says "should be the pride of the collection," is estimated to be worth just half a million dollars, with restoration costing up to $28 million.

A physical reminder of New York City's maritime heritage, this fleet of historic vessels is both an asset to the museum and a liability. "The Museum has ships it can't care for," Mr. Sexton said. "It's not rocket science. The Museum has to find new sources of funds and they have to figure out how to operate a set of facilities that match the revenue. Maybe there's a better home for the ships."

Peter Stanford, the founding president of the South Street Seaport Museum in 1967, insists that even though it will take tens of millions of dollars to bring the fleet up to minimum standards, this is not a financial problem. "It's a political problem that has produced a financial catastrophe," he said. "Money is not the problem; the attitude is the problem. Lack of respect for hard work and knowledge: that's a big problem."