Sailing Ship Elissa

Sailing Ship Elissa by Patricia Bellis Bixel. Published by Texas A&M University Press, College Station, TX, 1998. 1st Stated Edition. Hardbound. Paper DJ. Size 4to (up to 12'' tall). Condition: Fine in Good DJ. 144 Pgs. ISBN 0890968268. LCCN 98-2699. For more than 100 yrs the 400-ton barque Elissa worked the world's waters, first as a sailing ship and then as a motor vessel. Built in 1877 when steam vessels were beginning to overtake large sailing ships as prime cargo careers, Elissa survived for more than a century on the strength of her hull and on the economic niche that ships of her size could fill. Stripped of her three masts and her sails, heavily modified, and in line for the salvage yard, Elissa was discovered in the 1960s in Pir'us, Greece. Coincidentally, the Galveston Historical Foundation began looking for a ship to restore as a working example of the heyday of sail along the Texas coast. In this book, the author provides a complete history of the ship: her building and launching in Aberdeen, Scotland; her prime years of sailing under British, Norwegian, and Swedish flags; her decline as a Greek smuggler; and her eventual restoration as a tall ship for Texas. Included also is a view of the life of staff and crew on-board the ship during a sailing season today. Photographs by Jim Cruz. Description text copyright 2007 www.BooksForComfort.net. Item ID 16012.