Walking across to the Duver in St Helens with mum, there is the remains of an old boat that has been decaying for a long time. The remaining sections of the hull look interesting, and the engine is still substantially intact. I got a few shots of it as we wandered by, and it got me thinking that I have made the trip a couple of times in the past when visiting the UK. Was that boat there then and did I take a picture of it? Well, the answer is yes and yes. The last of these shots is what it looked like when I first saw it to compare with its current condition and show how much it has decayed in the approximately 20 years between these shots.
Tag Archives: hull
Interesting Hull Shape on the Pilot Boat
I don’t know the proper term for it, but it is very common these days for large ships to have a bulbous extension to the bow just below the waterline. The first time I ever saw one was when, as a small kid, I had a kit of the QEII, but they are everywhere at this point. However, I haven’t really thought of them as a thing for small boats. While heading across the Solent, a pilot boat came zipping past us. Not only did it have such a hull shape, this one looked a little different to the average. I wonder how significant the benefits are and whether they are worth it for a vessel like this.
Historic Hull In A Bad Way
As I was driving around the waterfront in Everett, I came to an open sided shed with a decaying ship hull under the cover. It was a ship called Equator. It was a hull that had been rescued after being used as part of the breakwater at Everett. Even after being saved, it sat outside for a long time gradually weakening. Eventually, funding was found to put a structure over the hull. However, it was already in a pretty bad way and the stern collapsed. It’s not clear what is going to happen to it at this point.
The structure is open on the sides which would be good for getting photos but the fencing is a bit of a problem. A bit of reaching up and using Live View to try and get some shots was required. Getting far enough back to get the hull in frame was problematic. At the stern end, there is a small wall for storage of some sand and it was possible to stand on top of the wall to get a few more angles. Not an easy one to shoot though.
HMS Warrior
Continuing a theme from some recent posts with preserved Royal Navy ships, I add another part of the Portsmouth historic dockyard. HMS Warrior was the world’s first iron hulled warship. See served a reasonable career as a warship but, as was the case in those days, technology moved on fast and she was gradually relegated to lesser duties. Eventually she became a hulk for storage and then a floating oil jetty. Restoration was undertaken in Hartlepool in the 80s and she was opened to the public in Portsmouth in 1987.
I have not ever visited her. I moved away from the area around the time she arrived and, while I have been back there more recently, I didn’t include her as part of the visit. I have photographed her from a distance though. Writing this has made me think that I need to visit at some point. With Victory and Mary Rose in the same area, you might get a bit “shipped out” but I shall have to give it a go some time.
Second Go At Old Ship Hulls
In this previous post, I had some shots of a ship hull in Anacortes that had become part of a harbor wall. When I showed this to a colleague of mine, he looked at Google Maps and thought there might be one or two more hulls making up the harbor. Once I saw what he was looking at, I could see what he was thinking. I also couldn’t work out why I didn’t go down to take a closer look when I had been there. A return journey seemed in order.
First I checked out the original hull and the one that is in the best condition. It looked more impressive when down on its level. I didn’t see any sign of a name which was a shame. Then I went to see what the other areas were. Sure enough, behind the first hull is a second one. This one is much more broken down but the timbers are still there making up another part of the harbor wall. I then realized that a third hull was part of the harbor which we hadn’t seen from Google. That is because it is a barge hull and so square which meant it wasn’t conspicuous from the aerial photos.
The last hull was located within a shipyard and, since I didn’t have permission to enter their premises, I didn’t go closer to check it out. A look from the access road above it did seem to confirm that it was indeed another hull. I guess whoever created the harbor figured the easiest way to do so was to sink a few derelict hulls and then build up the land around them (or let nature do that for you). I imagine that has been done elsewhere. Not quite the D-Day Mulberries but something similar.
Big Boat in Anacortes
We took a ferry from Anacortes as part of our vacation. We had some time in hand so stopped for lunch in the town and then took a wander around afterwards. The center of town is right near the shipyards and they seemed to be pretty busy. What particularly caught my eye was this huge boat that appeared to have undergone a process to stretch it and add some new structure. Seeing something this size sitting up on the ground is impressive when you are level with the bottom of the hull!