Cool Salvage Operation

[Jim Katen]

After ten years, they finally managed to remove the remainder of the New Carissa from a Coos Bay, Oregon beach. The operation was quite involved.

http://newcarissa2008.homestead.com/NewCarissa.html

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[hausdok]

Hi Jim,

That was pretty cool. That had to be backbreaking, dirty and dangerous work though.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[Chad Fabry]

Very cool. Salvaging the engine was hard...I want to see how they cast the crankcase to build it. The stuff we build is amazing.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by hausdok

Hi Jim,

That was pretty cool. That had to be backbreaking, dirty and dangerous work though.

OT - OF!!!

M.

Yes. The odd thing, though, is that the good citizens of Coos Bay are pissed off about it.

Coos Bay is a dying lumber town. The mills have closed down and the people are leaving. The town was in a state of decline when the New Carissa ran aground there in '99. Suddenly, the town flooded with journalists and rubberneckers. The journalists eventually left, but the rubberneckers kept stopping by. Eventually, the hulk became a genuine tourist attraction.

Now that it's gone, tourists don't have a whole lot of reason to stop by anymore.

- Jim in Oregon

[kurt]

There are few tasks more insanely dangerous than large scale marine construction and demolition. I've watched the guys do it here in Lake Michigan, but to take on Coos Bay on that scale is almost beyond comprehension.

I liked David's statement about his workers at the end. If you asked him who did the job, he'd probably answer "everyone".

Also, it was the right thing to do. Generations from now, folks that get to see a pristine Oregon coast will be glad. There are very few things that compare to the Oregon coast.