The Cutty Sark

　　An all too famous English clipper which was built for the tea transport is the Cutty Sark. When she was built, the time was changing from the days of sail to the days of steamship and her time was short. She had called at Japan. She didn't need coal as the fuel and had more space for cargo. I knew her name only through the history class in my high school days.
　　As the Suez Canal was built and steamships were developed, the role of sailboats diminished. I learned like this. I thought then, however, that it could be the trade-off for sailboats to carry more cargo than steamships even if the speed of sailboats was a little slower than steamships. I knew there was no wind in the Suez Canal and sailboats couldn't run through it from the description in the museum. Comparing the steamships which run through the Suez Canal and sailboats running all the way around South Africa, the game would be over before starting.
　　I learned through the BBC or something that the Cutty Sark was burnt down after the turn of this century. To be born in the 19th century and disappeared in the 21st century, she had passed two turns of the century. I thought of this hearing the regrettable news, but later I heard of its restoration and the newly built museum. I have been eager to visit the museum and touch herself. The steel part was not burnt and original. I enjoyed its inside tour. At the last part of the tour, I saw the collection of figure heads, some of them were funny and made me smile.
　　There were several stalls around the museum and the dishes they offered looked nice. We decided to take lunch there viewing the Cutty Sark. She was really beautiful. The legend ship which I've wanted to see was just before me. It was a really profound experience.
　　Then we dropped in at a pub, Gipsy Moth, which I had found from the deck of Cutty Sark. The taste of beer was great.

(Vocabulary)
all too famous あまりにも有名な
days of sail 帆船の時代
steamship 蒸気船

　余りにも有名なイギリスの快速を誇った紅茶運搬船。船が完成したときには帆船の時代が終わろうとしていたため、快速を生かした活躍期間は短い。日本に寄港したこともある。燃料の石炭を積まなくて良いためその分荷物室が広く、荷物を沢山積めたらしい。世界史の授業で名前だけは知っていた。

　スエズ運河が開通し、蒸気船が発達したためその役割は終えたとあったが、大量の荷物を快速で運べるなら蒸気船にも勝てるのでは？と疑問を持っていた。その後、スエズ運河では風が吹かず、帆船は通過できないのだと知った。スエズ運河経由の蒸気船相手では喜望峰周りの帆船がいかに快速であっても勝負にはならない。

　その船が２１世紀になって、一部焼失したが新たに復元され、ミュージアムとして公開されていると聞いていた。一度見たいと思っていたのだ。第一印象は美しい、ということ。船内をゆっくりと歩いて回った。フィギュアヘッドの大集合には笑った。

　周辺に露店が出ていて美味しそうだったので、カティーサークを眺めながらランチ。高校時代に教科書で出てきた船が目の前にある。復元とは言え、焼け残った鋼鉄部分は当時のもの。ここにいること、それ自体が感慨深い。さらに、カティーサークの甲板から見えたパブGipsy Mothでちょっとビール。うまかった。