Photo courtesy USCGThe MV New Carissa went aground in a violent storm on February 4, 1999, and remains on the beach just north of the harbor entrance at Coos Bay, Oregon. We watched the saga of the attempts to save her for several weeks on television. At that time station KOIN from Portland, was our west coast CBS station on the satellite and their helicopter was overhead every morning and evening throughout the ship’s ordeal.
She had been carrying no cargo and was ballasted with bunker fuel oil in her bilges and posed a serious environmental threat to this delicate shore and on up into Washington State. They decided to burn the oil off and set explosive charges in all of the cargo holds. Instead of a nice fire, they ignited an inferno that at one time had the hull plates glowing cherry red.
Photo courtesy USCG As a result, the ship split in two, with the forward cargo section breaking away just forward of the bridge superstructure.
Large ocean-going tugboats were called in and the connected to the bow by means of large diameter tow cables and commenced to pull. The tugboat company said it could take several days before any movement was seen. They were right on. The big tugs pulled and pulled 24/7 for days before it finally began to straighten towards the open sea and move away. They towed it many miles offshore and sunk it in deep water.
Still left on the beach, however, was the entire stern section containing the multi-storied superstructure and bridge and the engine room below that. The fires had spread throughout this section of the ship too leaving very little beside scrap iron to salvage.
Today, all that remains is the section of the hull that was aft of the superstructure—the stern of the ship. One identifiable structure is the rack that is visible in the right of the image above that is slanted at about 45 degrees. That once held a lifeboat that was probably used by the crew when they abandoned ship. She lies just offshore and ideas on how to remove the remains still continues to this day. Several weeks ago there was an article in the news about a new plan to “rid the coast of the eyesore”.
While watching the television news coverage of the event I recall them saying how difficult it was to get to the spot where she had run aground. It’s way out on what is called the North Spit and is truly 4-wheel-drive country. The road in is about 4 miles long consisting of beach driving and dune driving through powdery soft sand. It also seems likely that in February, 1999, following a huge storm, the sand was quite moist making driving on it a little easier than it is today.
Our Jeep was doing great until we were within a mile of returning to the paved road when Ron stopped to read a sign. It wasn’t an interesting sign so he stepped on the gas to get going again and we sunk in the sandy powder all the way to the frame so fast it took his breath away. Four wheels spinning in holes in the sand offered no forward progress at all. A couple riding an ATV came up and the driver immediately began removing air from the tires though it appeared quite obvious that wouldn’t work. A guardian angel arrived in a large 4X4 pickup and he had a tow strap. He hooked onto our front end, backed up, and with Ron applying some gas pulled us up and out of our soft spot. Thanks were given all around and we drove slowly back to the RV with 4 very soft tires. Fortunately, the RV has a built in air compressor and we quickly put everything right with the tires.
Ron’s mistake was stopping in what was obviously very soft sand. He won’t do that again. So long as the Jeep was moving forward it kept on keepin’ on. Stopping allowed it to just sink into the powder sand. We’ll stock a shovel, and a tow strap, and perhaps an air tank to refill the tires after airing them down in the sand, before we go again.
We’ll call it a learning experience or our adventure on the beach in Oregon. The weather was gorgeous and so it was much better than getting stuck somewhere in the boondocks in the snow. The Pugs had a great time walking on the beach too.
Large ocean-going tugboats were called in and the connected to the bow by means of large diameter tow cables and commenced to pull. The tugboat company said it could take several days before any movement was seen. They were right on. The big tugs pulled and pulled 24/7 for days before it finally began to straighten towards the open sea and move away. They towed it many miles offshore and sunk it in deep water.
Still left on the beach, however, was the entire stern section containing the multi-storied superstructure and bridge and the engine room below that. The fires had spread throughout this section of the ship too leaving very little beside scrap iron to salvage.
Today, all that remains is the section of the hull that was aft of the superstructure—the stern of the ship. One identifiable structure is the rack that is visible in the right of the image above that is slanted at about 45 degrees. That once held a lifeboat that was probably used by the crew when they abandoned ship. She lies just offshore and ideas on how to remove the remains still continues to this day. Several weeks ago there was an article in the news about a new plan to “rid the coast of the eyesore”.
While watching the television news coverage of the event I recall them saying how difficult it was to get to the spot where she had run aground. It’s way out on what is called the North Spit and is truly 4-wheel-drive country. The road in is about 4 miles long consisting of beach driving and dune driving through powdery soft sand. It also seems likely that in February, 1999, following a huge storm, the sand was quite moist making driving on it a little easier than it is today.
Our Jeep was doing great until we were within a mile of returning to the paved road when Ron stopped to read a sign. It wasn’t an interesting sign so he stepped on the gas to get going again and we sunk in the sandy powder all the way to the frame so fast it took his breath away. Four wheels spinning in holes in the sand offered no forward progress at all. A couple riding an ATV came up and the driver immediately began removing air from the tires though it appeared quite obvious that wouldn’t work. A guardian angel arrived in a large 4X4 pickup and he had a tow strap. He hooked onto our front end, backed up, and with Ron applying some gas pulled us up and out of our soft spot. Thanks were given all around and we drove slowly back to the RV with 4 very soft tires. Fortunately, the RV has a built in air compressor and we quickly put everything right with the tires.
Ron’s mistake was stopping in what was obviously very soft sand. He won’t do that again. So long as the Jeep was moving forward it kept on keepin’ on. Stopping allowed it to just sink into the powder sand. We’ll stock a shovel, and a tow strap, and perhaps an air tank to refill the tires after airing them down in the sand, before we go again.
We’ll call it a learning experience or our adventure on the beach in Oregon. The weather was gorgeous and so it was much better than getting stuck somewhere in the boondocks in the snow. The Pugs had a great time walking on the beach too.
1 comment:
Wonderful write up! We are at the KOA as I type this after a day of riding atv's and a looong walk to the wreck (we didn't have a flag for our 4x4) NOTE TO ALL if you want to drive out have a flag! I can't believe they have plans to remove the New Carissa as i read doing a little more research on it this eve..as we would have never venured out there without such an attraction. *cheers from Canada*
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