Astrand

All photos today come thanks to John Huntington.  Check out his new site here, one which I mentioned a week and a half ago here.

Here are the basics on what you are looking at, mostly from John’s caption:  “FAR ROCKAWAY, QUEENS, NEW YORK CITY, NY/USA – FEBRUARY 25, 2016: The 24 meter (78 foot) scallop fishing vessel the Carolina Queen III, rests in surf in the Atlantic Ocean off Far Rockaway on the Rockaway peninsula of the borough of Queens in New York City. The boat ran aground at about 2am and all the crew were safely evacuated by the US Coast Guard.”   Of course, there are also the related stories about the USCG 25′ RIB attempting a rescue and capsizing in the 10-12′ seas, and its crew, trained and geared up for such a possibility, safely swimming to shore;  and the rescue of Carolina Queen III crew by helicopter.  Photos here.  A number of the RIBs can be seen here.

Salvage plans are underway.  The fishing vessel–to my untrained eye–seems to have held up well, a tribute to its builders as well as to the fact of coming ashore on the sand.  Those builders are responsible for two of the newest tugboats in the sixth boro as well.

I’m sure the owners and crew of the vessel feel sick right now.

 

But looking at John’s remarkable photos, I’m struck by their allure.  The calm water, patches of blue sky, reflection of a beautiful machine misplaced on soft sand  . . .  contrast sharply with how the scene must have appeared to the crews Wednesday night when the wind and spray made the decks feel like hell, a time of uncertainty and fear.

I’ve previously done a set of posts on a vessel ashore here.  And from South Africa four years ago, these photos from Colin Syndercombe and another fishing boat astrand.

Thanks again to John Huntington for use of these photos.

For a photo of Rodriguez Boatbuilders’ 2015 James E. Brown, click here and scroll.

For a sense of how shipwreck has attracted photographers of four generations of a British family, click here.