The Peking at South Street Seaport

After living in New York for several years, you tend to start taking tourist attractions for granted. However, this article at caught my attention about deteriorating ships at South Street Seaport. One of these ships is the four-masted Peking, a German steel-hulled barque built to carry nitrates from Chile back to Europe around Cape Horn. Bigger ships were built (see the five-masted Preussen, but the Peking is one of the most famous Flying P-Liners. Yet, I admit I didn’t know much about it til today.

This film by Irving Johnson shows incredible footage from a 1929 passage around Cape Horn, rare footage of an incredible journey that was somehow just part of the routine for these sailors. Johnson narrates himself, offering fascinating insight about life on board. Feeling like you had a tough day at the office? Just look at what these sailors endured! It’s mind-boggling. Even if the Peking received the $28 million it needs for refurbishment, would anyone know how to sail it like this? How many people can you think of who are as tough as nails as these guys? To think people complain about being over four blocks from the subway in the winter time! Check out the film!