I am a member of the large extended family of Donald McKay and have grown up looking at pictures of lofty clipper ships on museum walls and maritime history books as have all the rest of the McKays. Most of us have taken great pride in the heritage bestowed upon us by Donald McKay. Yet we have all grown up without ever seeing an actual American clipper ship in our lifetimes. Often we have wondered why this is so for many of us live in the United States of America, the greatest county in the world where great fortunes were founded around the time of the California Gold Rush when lofty clipper ships sailed the Seven Seas. And yet today there is not one single American clipper ship that we can call our own.
As a member of the McKay Clan I just do not understand this sad irony of life and lost clipper ship heritage and why this should be so. Many other McKays feel the same way. We have all been scratching our heads with dumbfounded incredulity for the longest time over this perplexing dilemma. A whole century just went by and not one single clipper ship was built in that time. We all realize, of course, that to build a clipper ship today would be a very expensive proposition. We have even inquired as to the approximate costs and time required for such a venture. It would cost somewhere around 25 million dollars and take around two years to complete. There are noble efforts afoot by organizations to do this very thing such as Project Sea Witch and the Shining Sea Foundation and we support them wholeheartedly. Yet we also realize that there are many other worthy maritime heritage preservation efforts afoot all asking for support, many of them deserving projects to rescue vessels that have been languishing away for years. Then again we see vast sums of money going into the America's Cup Race. For that same amount of money, around 300 million dollars, you could build a fleet of a dozen clipper ships and have Deep Sea Derby clipper ship races around the Horn. Something to think about. We will have much more to say about all this in the coming months.
For the time being we just all want to honor the Sea Witch and her record setting passage 152 years ago. We all have high hopes that this Web site and book will rekindle the spark to build such lofty clipper ships again. That certainly is our intention and purpose. We invite you all aboard in support for this noble undertaking.
Happy sails,
Donald Gunn Ross III
g.g.g.g.grandson of Sergeant Donald McKay
1st-cousin-4-times-removed to Donald McKay
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