With a self-imposed fundraising deadline come and gone, the Chula Vista tall ship the Bill of Rights fell about $44,000 short of reaching its goal to pay for a costly ship inspection, said a representative for the Bill of Rights.
Chula Vista’s tall ship the Bill of Rights needs about $50,000 for a Coast Guard inspection that is required in order to keep its license for carrying passengers.
Don Johnson, South Bay Front Sailing Association CEO, first mate and primary engineer aboard the tall ship, said so far only $6,000 has been raised through various fundraising efforts.
“We’re still under budget,” he said. “And it will only get worse the longer we go without meeting our goal.”
Johnson said Coast Guard officials are working with them in rescheduling the inspection but he said he is not sure how much longer the agency can wait.
“At this particular point, the Coast Guard has said that we’re not allowed to take passengers on board until we have finished this inspection,” he said.
Johnson said he is hoping to come up with the money before the middle of January.
He previously said the money will go toward helping the ship meet Coast Guard standards by covering the cost of any unexpected maintenance required, as well as the cost of having a crew take down the ship’s mast which is more than 100 feet long and weighs a few tons. He said they also have to pay to store the mast in a shipping yard and pay for the labor of workers to take the boat apart, then pay for them to put it back together.
In their inspection, the Coast Guard will inspect the ship’s structure. Coast Guard regulations requires the lifting of the mast, cabling and rigging.
The Bill of Rights’ current fundraising efforts include reaching out to local businesses and residents who are willing to donate.
The organization held a fundraising initiative on Giving Tuesday that raised them nearly $800, Johnson said.
Plans are in the works to host an art show at the Chula Vista Center where art pieces will be up for sale with all proceeds going towards funding the inspection.
The ship gets a routine inspection every year by the Coast Guard at minimal cost, but the in-depth structural inspection that is needed comes about once every 10 years with this being the first one.
Johnson said the inspection requires the disassembly of the tall ship so that the Coast Guard can inspect its structure.
Johnson said if ship organizers cannot come up with the funding for the inspection, then there could be a possibility that they might have to sell the ship and it will no longer be a part of the Chula Vista community.
He said he will be sad to see the ship go considering it is a vital part of the community.
“This is the city of Chula Vista’s historic tall ship,” he said. “We have a waterfront that is in the process of being developed, part of the master plan for the long run was to have a tall ship in this harbor, so we have already accomplished that part of the master plan.”
The Bill of Rights was built in 1971, specifically to lead the parade into New York Harbor for the Bicentennial. The ship came to Chula Vista in 2013 after an agreement between the nonprofits Los Angeles Maritime Museum and the South Bay Sailing Association.
To donate visit www.schoonerbillofrights.com and click the donate tab.
