Bob Krauss would not have let this happen.

The Falls of Clyde, the 130-year-old ship he saved not once but over and over, is on the brink again. Without Krauss to lovingly, stubbornly lead the charge for her salvation, the ship he called "indestructible" may be destroyed. It is coming apart already. Being taken apart. The masts are gone.

Krauss is gone, too. The longtime Advertiser columnist died in 2006 at age 82. If you knew him, you knew he was too young to go.

It is hard to overstate Krauss' interest in and impact on the Falls of Clyde. In 1963, the ship was days away from being sunk for use as a breakwater when Krauss got wind of the situation. He started writing about the Falls of Clyde in his column. He wrote about its long history and its connection to Hawai'i. He didn't just write one story; he launched a campaign.

"The trick," Krauss said later in an interview, "is to convince people something is possible. Once they stop thinking up reasons why it shouldn't be done and begin figuring ways to do it, you've won the battle."

In two weeks, Krauss got everyone in Hawai'i excited about saving the Falls of Clyde. It became a community mission.

The Falls of Clyde was built in Scotland in 1878 and carried cargo in Asia before coming to Hawai'i in 1899 to carry both passengers and cargo for Matson Navigation Co. It later became an oil tanker in California and then a floating fuel depot in Alaska.

Once Krauss was on the story, Hawai'i business leaders were inspired to contribute toward the goal of raising $20,000 to buy the ship and bring it to Hawai'i. Local television stations gave nightly progress reports on the fund. Radio stations held fundraising drives. Kids went around town collecting money in cans. The Advertiser reported that more than $2,000 was collected in nickels and dimes.

The goal was met and in November 1963, the Falls of Clyde came home to Honolulu. In May 1968, Bishop Museum took over the Falls of Clyde.

"I walked away from the transfer of ownership a happy man," Krauss later wrote. "At last, the poor old ship was in safe hands."

Of course, maintaining the ship has always been the tricky part.

In 1981, Bishop Museum trustees voted to sell the ship and use the proceeds to pay for other parts of the museum. Krauss led the charge to make sure that didn't happen.

Krauss didn't just write about the Falls of Clyde, he understood her and loved her like she was his home. He gave his own money to the cause, including a check for $100,000 in 2005. His ashes were placed on the ship.

In his absence, the Falls of Clyde has fallen into severe disrepair. It is estimated it will take $30 million to repair and maintain the ship. If no entity steps in to save her this time, Bishop Museum says it will have no other option but to sink the ship, perhaps as early as this month.

In the prologue to his 2004 book, "The Indestructible Square-Rigger," Krauss wrote about the "why" — why work so hard to save an old rusty ship, why it mattered so much to him and, for a time, to all of Hawai'i:

"It is because some things give our lives more significance than others, tell us more about who we are, make the future more interesting by enriching our past."

There will never be another Bob Krauss.

There will never be another Falls of Clyde.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.