Back when Alice Oldendorff occupied a large part of my  . ..  well, nautical heart, I did a post examining her parts, discovering –of course– her magic created a presence much greater than their sum, a fact I cherish in all those I love.

Some recent fotos suggested I revisit this title.  Of course, parts often bear no resemblance to or hint of the whole.  Like the foto below.  Judging by the arc of numbers near the right side of the foto, the left-to-right expanse of the structure might be about 30 feet.  A rocky bank lies not far beyond this curved underside of the hull.  And the rest of the story?  Is the ship aground?

It’s MSC Carla, all nearly 800′ of her.

Half a dozen crew gather around the hook of a crane.  On this foggy day their vessel seems to be in contact with a red #30 buoy.

It’s Katherine Walker doing buoy maintenance.

And . . . yes, I rubbed my eyes too when I saw this, vowing to visit the eye doctor soon.

But when I looked here,

my fear of blindness dissipated.  I could even recognize the unmistakeable profile of Ellen McAllister, winner of the 2009 tugboat race, shown in the video here.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.

Speaking of hulls, phototiura has some of the most beautiful ones I’ve ever seen.