In a message dated 10/31/00 5:01:39 AM, Bent Tolstrup writes: << No, there shouldn't be two Gjas. However, a beauty like Gja has many replicas. >> Bent, Many thanks for the information on Gjoa. But- is the one on display outside the Fram Museum real or a replica? It seems in pretty good shape for a wooden boat over a century old. Regards, Larry Zeitlin

Further research reveals: .................. A list of monuments, etc. in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, as of 1951, include: "Gjoa Sloop: Great Highway, north of Beach Chalet; donated by Norwegian residents of San Francisco through consulate on behalf of Norway; erected in 1909." "Gjoa Plaque Roald Amundsen: Great Highway, north of Beach Chalet; donated by Royal Norwegian Consulate and erected in 1929." .................. Amundsen arrived in San Francisco in October, 1906, six months after most of the city had been destroyed in the great earthquake and fire. Where was the Gjoa from 1906 to 1909? I am remembering having seen photographs of the Gjoa landing through the surf at Ocean Beach and being dragged across Great Highway to its home surrounded by cypress trees in Golden Gate Park. .................. Here, some historian has renamed the ship. This is undated: "He continued into the Amundsen Gulf to the Beaufort Sea, around the northern coast of Alaska, through the Bering Sea, and finely down the Pacific coast to San Francisco. The ship, the Gjoa Haven, can still be seen there today." .................. ^From "The Saga of St. Roch," by E. Re. Yarham, FRGS, undated: "The three most famous ships to sail in Arctic waters during the past century have been Nansen's Fram, which in 1895 drifted to the then farthest north (85 deg. 57 min.), and which is preserved in Oslo; Amundsen's Gjoa, first vessel to navigate the Northwest Passage (1903-1906), and which is now on display at San Francisco; and the Royal Canadian Police patrol vessel, St. Roch, which has more firsts to its credit than any other polar ship, and which has now become a new Canadian National Historic Site." .................. http://civiccenter.ci.sf.ca.us/recpark/Image.nsf/Images+not+categorized/?SearchView&Query=Boating Adding to the mystery, this page includes photographs of Amundsen standing in front of the Gjoa, in Golden Gate Park, in 1927; everal photographs of the Gjoa in Golden Gate Park, 1939; and finally several photographs of the "removal" of the Gjoa, using a crane and a flatbed truck, on All Fool's Day, 1972! Removal to where? How long has the ship been in Oslo? This seems to be the answer, but someone will have to translate it: "I april 1909 ble Gja skjenket til San Francisco av en norskamerikansk komit og plassert i Golden Gate Park. I 1972 ble den brakt til Oslo og str n ved Sjfartsmuseet." Bob ------------------------------------------------------ Bob Conrich bob@eastcaribbean.com Box 666 http://www.ai/bob Anguilla Tel: 264 497 2505 British West Indies ------------------------------------------------------

The one on display in Oslo, Norway, is the original, not a replica. It is an incredible sight and one of the great memories of my visit to Oslo in 1995 (actually, it's in a museum just outside of Oslo). LRZeitlin@aol.com wrote: > Bent, > Many thanks for the information on Gjoa. But- is the one on display outside > the Fram Museum real or a replica? It seems in pretty good shape for a wooden > boat over a century old. -- Bob McLeran rmcleran@ix.netcom.com M/V "Sanderling" Docked at Point Patience Marina Hailing port: Wianno MA Solomons, MD Hampton 35 Trawler