Replica Bounty to arrive in Tahiti Oct 07

For any of you lucky enough to be cruising Tahiti in October 08 you will probably get a glimpse of the rebuilt Bounty. I'd love to see this. Sorry but I made a typo in the title and she does not arrive until October 2008....not October 2007. The edit function won't let you edit titles. Article below:

Pat

Miscellaneous : 06/12/2007 at 9:16AM

Rebuilt H.M.S. Bounty replica launched in Maine, due in Tahiti October 2008

(Tahitipresse) - A rebuilt H.M.S. Bounty replica used in the 1962 movie "Mutiny on the Bounty" is due to arrive in Tahiti in October 2008 for the 220th anniversary of the original vessel's first arrival in 1788, according to Internet news reports.

More immediately, the ship was launched over the weekend at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in Maine as the owners prepare for an around-the-world voyage that will begin with the replica's return to Canada in early July for the Halifax Tall Ship Festival from July 12-16.

The replica Bounty has undergone a $2 million (€1.5m) overhaul for more than a year, with old wood ripped out and replaced in the 412-ton ship and its three 115-foot (35-meter) masts left untouched, The Associated Press and the Boothbay Register reported in separate Internet articles.

"The work included replacing stern and bow sections, installing a new top deck, recasting the ship's ballast, building a new skylight and galley windows and installing new deck hatches," The AP reported.

The Bounty replica was originally built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. It was launched in 1960 for the 1962 Mutiny film starring Marlon Brando as Lt. Fletcher Christian. The ship then was dry docked at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in 2002 for major hull repairs before filming "Pirates of the Caribbean II & III" as well as "Sponge Bob Square Pants—the Movie" and "Dead Man's Chest".

The Bounty replica is due to leave Boothbay Harbor on July 2 to visit Lunenburg. After the Halifax Tall Ship Festival, the ship will sail across the Atlantic for an England port tour, beginning in Maryport on Aug. 15, the Boothbay Register reported.

The Bounty's Captain Robin Walbridge and its 18-member crew then plan to set sail for Tahiti, where it is scheduled to arrive in time for the 220th anniversary of the original Bounty's arrival in October 1788. Along the way on the 6,000-mile trip the ship is tentatively due to stop in Brazil before heading to South Africa and then the South Pacific, according to The AP article.

"The ship will attempt to follow the course that (Captain William) Bligh took in 1788 when the original Bounty was commissioned to sail to Tahiti to collect sapling breadfruit trees," The AP article reported.

"The ship is beautiful. It truly tugs at your heart," Margaret Ramsey, spokeswoman for the HMS Bounty Organization LLC in Smithtown, N.Y., told The AP. The organization is run by the Bounty's owner, Robert Hanson, who acquired the ship from the Fall River, Mass., Chamber of Commerce.

The latest overhaul was the third since Hanson has been the owner. Ms. Ramsey noted that most people do not realize what it costs to keep the Bounty shipshape. She told The AP, "It easily costs us between $750,000 (€561,282) and $1 million (€748,315) a year just to maintain the ship. It's not an easy feat."