I spoke with some of the guys working on Olympia when I last visited. When they learned of my interest and knowledge of the ship, I got to see the parts of her that aren't all nice and dolled up for the museum. That's where I get my opinion of "She'll never survive relocation." There really are no tricks to get this boat out of it's predicament. Somebody is going to need to pay to have her repaired, or better yet drydocked and completely worked over, in the Philadelphia region. Only after that could she be moved to another museum setup. I don't think you could poke your finger through the hull...but in at least three separate areas I saw rust bubbles that were weeping with water coming into the ship. The mechanic guy I was with said "That's nothing." Looked like you could take a hammer and punch a hole right out into the water. Though the ship's upper hull areas and deck/superstructure are in great shape for their age, her under the waterline/near the waterline hull areas are sad. From the outside of the ship on a barge they were using to paint it last year you could feel the iron, which is quite porous like a sponge. The upper areas near the deck weren't smooth or by any defintion "fresh", but the metal near the water is much much worse. Photos of what her waterline is like. This area was promptly patched, but the patches still leak. And the rest of the hull isn't far behind.
