[HN Gopher] The Calypso: Jacques Cousteau's Crazy Exploration Ve...
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       The Calypso: Jacques Cousteau's Crazy Exploration Vessel [video]
        
       Author : latchkey
       Score  : 34 points
       Date   : 2022-12-12 05:28 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.youtube.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.youtube.com)
        
       | ttepasse wrote:
       | Wes Anderson did a wonderful movie about a very melancholic
       | Cousteau pastiche, played by Bill Murray - The Life Aquatic With
       | Steve Zissou. Of course there is a Calypso equivalent in the
       | movie, the Belafonte. Here is a tour:
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1RnYfFZK2k
        
       | _ph_ wrote:
       | Nice to see this video pop up on HN, I had watched it just a few
       | days ago. I still can remember the exciting reports of the
       | Calypso's exploration on TV in the 70ies. Faszinating to see the
       | background of how everything came to be. From the beginnings
       | being a very modest ship and continiously being enhanced until it
       | became the almost sci-fi (for that time) exploration vessel. And
       | how much Jaques Custeau had to work and invest to make it happen.
       | How much he had to actually invent what we take for granted
       | today.
       | 
       | The best fun-fact in my eyes was how not only the diesel and
       | water tanks were expanded over time, but a wine-tank was added to
       | the vessel. But that seems natural when you consider that the
       | crew was French and they took multi-year journeys far away from
       | good wine supply.
        
         | NegativeLatency wrote:
         | Yeah the wine tank sounded silly at first, but I think it makes
         | a lot of sense with the number of bottles and weight you'd
         | save.
        
           | _ph_ wrote:
           | Yes, it is crazy how much trash in form of bottles you
           | generate with even modest but somewhat regular wine-drinking.
           | For a whole crew of a ship that would be quite a logistical
           | nightmare.
           | 
           | Also, as France is such a huge wine-producer, it is really
           | easy to come by inexpensive good wines almost everywhere.
           | That is not that easy in the rest of the world.
        
         | pugworthy wrote:
         | Having spent a little time on a French research ship in the
         | 90's, I can believe th wine thing.
        
       | theshrike79 wrote:
       | What people don't always grasp about Cousteau that he wasn't one
       | of the first exploring the sea. He was _THE_ first. Before him
       | people just didn't think about the deep sea at all. It was just
       | there.
       | 
       | He (and his crew) literally invented a bunch of equipment still
       | used today.
        
         | neuralRiot wrote:
         | He and Emile Gagnan invented the scuba diving regulator used
         | today. Before that was either a hose or snorkeling.
        
       | eternalban wrote:
       | My father got me the toy scale model of Calypso on a trip to
       | Europe, possibly '77. Had a little sub and everything.
       | 
       | https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1a/78/e3/1a78e36fcf4d74beedbf...
        
       | cm2187 wrote:
       | Also in one of the first Cousteau documentaries, a way to study
       | marine life that didn't age well:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHrlXY9Gd6c
        
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       (page generated 2022-12-13 23:01 UTC)