Steam Vessel George Stephenson - Backstage

Steam Vessel George Stephenson
Ein Film von Lutz Biewirth

In all these auxiliary systems, equipped with the necessary safety devices, and in many other instances (e.g. port-holes) the relics in maritime attributes got a place and had to be refurbished, and made functioning by the craftsmen-with-passion for the technical beauty.

When the ship is finished and sailing many will wonder how these systems and their integrated parts are connected. That is all behind the carpentry, like the arteries and nerves in the human body under the skin. Not visible, but behind a beauty and a joy forever.

Then there are the accommodations, the lounge, the bedrooms, the caboose, the engine rooms and the decks. The struggle the carpenter had to endure to find a place everything to be placed in a room. Often a mock-up was made with everything in place made of triplex or cardboard. The master carpenter often quoted his masters by saying: "You first have to make it, before you are going to make it".

Three years later (May 2011) the progress made is considerable and the last finishing touches are applied. The steam boiler is at its place in tango with the Compound C steam engine that once served on a Clyde puffer. The diesel engine (the Gardner), has been placed a level lower than the boiler/steam-engine combination both connected through axis and gearboxes with the propeller.

The cockpit is in place, shines beautifully and instruments are being mounted there. The vessel after its second primer paint has been painted 7 times and finally is in its final colours and on display, full of grace. The exhausts of the engines and boiler have been connected to the chimney which proudly displays the logo of the old Strick-line from the past.

Old ships like the cruise ship the RMS "Windsor Castle" ( Margarita L) make a reappearance by the use of her solid doors; the application of sucupira wood on the floor; wood that once served as dancing floor at a paddle-boat on the river Thames. Wood and doors also from the cruise ship "France", later to be known as the "Norway". Ships with a long history both finding their end on the shores of India where their final dismantling took place. Strik travelled to India to lay his hands on attributes just in time to save these for destruction. Or in the case of the Norway entered in a deal with Norwegian collectors who had captured a great part of nostalgia form the Norway.

On his travels to India mr Strik could acquire a cargo of tropical teak wood, coming from a building built in 1880. The teak wood used comes from trees that were planted in the 11th century, judging from the year-rings. It is now a millennium later, being applied on the decks and stairs of the George Stephenson.

Another famous ship is the French aircraft carrier the (George) Clemenceau, the hero from the first world war, built after the second world war (ordered by President Charles de Gaulle). A few years ago she made her last journey from Toulouse to India, pursued by action groups, ordered back to France by President Chirac to Toulouse and Brest so as to wait and find an acceptable haven to dismantle. That ultimate haven was found in the UK with Able UK. It has been agreed between Able UK and mr Strik, thanks to his network and his sharp eye, that part of the screw of the Clemenceau will be salvaged en recast into two new screws for the George Stephenson.