[QUOTE=Emrobu;190014]There’s a village named after Gjoa in Nunavut.
I went to the maritime museum in Bygdoy. They kicked me out because there was too much stuff to look at in one day. Its a really wonderful place. The new Maud museum looks nice.[/quote]
The Gjoa was originally built in Hardanger in 1872 to carry dried cod from Northern Norway to Bergen. I have been told that my Great Grandmother, who came from there was somehow connected with the builder of the Gjoa.
She grounded and sunk in the Lofoten Islands in 1882, but was salvage and restored. After that she was used as a “sealer” and for Arctic trade, before being brought by Amundsen for his ambisious plan of sailing through the NW Passage.
Here is the history of Gjoa: http://www.frammuseum.no/Visit-the-Museum/GJOA.aspx
You’re right about it not being much of an investment. They even brought over a Norwegian flagged tug to do the work. I understand that they have a budget, that they aren’t making any money, and that the Maud is part of Norway’s heritage. But it is our heritage, too. If Norwegians care so much about the Maud, let them come here to see her. Build the museum here, and make it a stop for the cruises.
The group that did the salvage was sponsored by a corporation, but organized as a non-profit society. Likewise, the construction of the museum at Vollan is by a private organization, not by the Norwegian Government.
Yes they brought a tug and barge, plus much of their equipment and manpower from Norway. No Canadian grant or expenses were spent on this project. I don’t know if they paid Pilotage thought. (Are there any Pilots in that area?)
As for preserving the hulk and building a museum in NWT, I don’t know if that would at all be possible, but it would definitely not be economical.
Would a Maud Museum in Cambridge Bay (or Gjoa Haven?) have attracted hordes of tourists, arriving by cruise ship or otherwise? Hardly likely and the season would have been even shorter than in Oslo.
The Maud had no other connection to that area than that she was used as a floating warehouse for a few years and sunk there.
She did become the inspiration and template for the first true Arctic ship built in and for Canada. That would have been a better ship to display up there. What happened to the RCMP vessel St. Roch anyhow?