STRANDED WESTERN When it comes to the recent beaching of the vessel ‘Western’ two analogies, come to mind, “The Ugly Duckling”, and “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” To most, the rough leathered and wrinkled aged look of the vessel, ‘Western’, turned up their noses in disgust asking…”why would anyone want to save such an ugly vessel, it is past its prime.” Or “You’d be better off scrapping what you can and sink the rest.” And, “It’s an eye-sore, and I don’t want to look at it, move it along!” Many are sitting around the local sea bitten bars talking and questioning the intent of the new owner of the ‘Western’, wondering if he is foolish for taking on such a project. Some even hope he’ll fail so they would have something to prove in future conversations. But, for one man, and, one man alone, he could see the potential in the wooden ‘Ugly Duckling’, though hidden from view, he knows it’s there. With any project, unexpected hurtles and bumps come along. And, for the Western, a storm packing high winds is no friend to any water-going craft, whether it is a small boat, a fishing vessel, or a large ship. On the night of October 25th, the Oregon Coast braced for a wallop. Winds gust reaching 80 mph and drenching rains swept through the area. The security of an anchor failed on the Western and the vessel drifted north with the wind. By morning light, the Western was beached on the mud flats, stranded, like a fish out of water. The words, “I told you so”, whispers with the out-going tide. But, once again the owner of the Western can see hope. Until the Western is able to be pulled off the mud flats, the owner is taking advantage of vessel being out of the water at low tide. At the time of my visit, the man was standing aside the boat, scrapping off the layer of growing mussels, sea weed, and sea life. With the help of a common paint scraper, layer of sea growth peeled off like skin peels after sunburn. The owner was happy to find the bottom of the boat to be in excellent condition, and for this alone, he smiled. The lure of a vessel in distress is captivating. For me, I wouldn’t have gone down to the mud flats this night to just take a picture of the mud and low tide. I would want a subject to generate emotion. The stranding of the Western gave me the reason. Now serving lemonade. facebook/StevenMichaelPhotographyOregon instagram/stevenmichaelphotography
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 20:43:49 +0000
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