Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter

Subject: Lyr Add: NEW CARISSA/MARY ELLEN CARTER (W Joseph)
From: GUEST,Wendy Joseph
Date: 17 Nov 02 - 02:52 AM

Here are some new lyrics to the tune of the Stan Rogers song, "Mary Ellen Carter." There will be a Ship Hits the Sand party this February in Coos Bay, OR, to commemorate the grounding and subsequent adventures of the freighter New Carissa in 1999. Enjoy!

Wendy

NEW CARISSA/MARY ELLEN CARTER

by Wendy Joseph 10/10/02

She ran aground in February, 1999
Down on the shore in Coos Bay, upon the sand so fine
She came to get wood chippings, sailing through a northwest blow
But the gallant New Carissa settled low
The engineers all scratched their heads and wondered what to do
They tried to drain her bunker fuel, but it started to leak through
They ended up in therapy, which probably won't end
But will the gallant New Carissa rise again?


Rise again, rise again
That her name not be lost to the memory of men
They shot her full of holes, and torpedoed in the end
But will the gallant New Carissa rise again?


They brought in pyrotechnic kings who knew just what to do
"Set her fuel on fire, boys, we'll blow up all the goo!"
With good old trusty C-4, and napalm just in case
But it flashed and died and the old girl's still in place
Now birds are dying rapidly and all the Greenies cry
"Can't you kill that stupid ship so the birdies all can fly?"
The weather started making up, storm coming, who knows when
But will the gallant New Carissa rise again?

(Chorus)

She then decided to divide, and fore and aft were two
The fuel was rushing like a fountain gray into the blue
They brought the sturdy tug Sea Victory to do her job
Chugging through the greasy oily blob
They tried to tow her bow to sea, but Carissa said "No way!"
She broke the tow line in a storm and danced into the bay
And now her bow and stern both laugh upon the sandy grains
To make the gallant New Carissa rise again

(Chorus)

They called the U S. Navy out, in desperation straits
The David R. Ray and the Bremerton both fired away
They could have sent New Carissa Swiss cheese to the store
Them Navy boys should really practice more
A last torpedo took her to her grave, or so they say
Her stern still sits upon the shore, to this very day
Her bow's two miles down they say, but does the story end?
Will the gallant New Carissa rise again?

(Chorus)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Nov 02 - 03:00 AM

Wendy or somebody, is the ship still visible?
I was in Coos Bay a while back and thought it was gone and didn't go looking for it - but found out later it could still be seen. Haven't heard anything about it for a while.
-Joe Offer, in the Sacramento area-

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Genie
Date: 17 Nov 02 - 03:49 AM

Joe, I think Gov. Kitzhaber is still trying to sue the owners of the New Carissa for the costs of removal.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: GUEST,Wendy
Date: 17 Nov 02 - 03:59 AM

Dear Joe,

Some of the stern is still on the beach, but I haven't been down there for a while so I don't know how much.

Wendy

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Barbara
Date: 17 Nov 02 - 07:37 AM

Actually, the jury found the ship's company negligent a couple days ago, and they are supposed to pay the -- I forget -- umpty umpty (24?)million it supposedly will take to get the still-very-visible stern off the shoals.
Now everyone is holding their collective breaths to see if the shipping company is going to appeal.
So still much good song fodder there.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Barbara
Date: 17 Nov 02 - 07:55 AM

Here's a link to what the stern looks like now, more or less: http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=51680

If you search the SJ for "Carissa", you'll find other stories about the recent jury decision. The dollar amount is apparently $25 million.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Nov 02 - 09:12 AM

Wendy, I had the great pleasure of hearing Jonathan Lay lead this song at a small gathering at the Elephant & the Castle in Portland-West back in September. Great song! Reminds me of the "Cat Came Back."

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Genie
Date: 17 Nov 02 - 05:08 PM

Charley, this doesn't seem to be the same song Johathan sang. His was a calypso tune, and the chorus was definitely not a parody of the Mary Ellen Carter chorus.

I'd love to have someone post that song, too.

Genie

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Nov 02 - 06:06 PM

Lyrics to a lot of Stan Rogers's songs are on the Fogarty's Cove Music website. "Mary Ellen Carter" is at

http://stevebriggs.superb.net/stanrogers/songs/mec-sng.html

and you can end the URL at stanrogers for the FCM site.

One of my favorites, but then a lot of his work is.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Nov 02 - 06:23 PM

I'll try to make a link:

http://stevebriggs.superb.net/stanrogers/songs/mec-sng.html

Hope that it works....

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Gareth
Date: 17 Nov 02 - 06:49 PM

Hmmmm ! Proffesionally ! The findings of negligence on the part of the owners opens up the question of liability, and limitation of liability.

The question must lie what assests, impoundable by a US court, are available to meet any judgement.

I suspect the whole assets of the "New Clarissa" owners were the hull, and a brass nameplate "somewhere". Qustion. Did the owners acutually put up a defense in Court ?? - Or was this yet another case of the ships gone so we'll bugger off and ignore the matter.

Incidently bunker grade "C" or "D" fuel don't burn easy. Neither does heavy crude. The RAF and the Royal Navy found this out the hard way when the "Torrey Canyon" had an argument with the Seven Stones reef in 1966. Napalm, 4.5" bricks, Torpedoes, took a lot to set her alight and even more to keep her burning.

Oh and by the way the "New Clarissa" was not a tanker, just a fairley modern Cargo Ship - One of thousands on the seas.

And the crew, just another statistic in Lloyd's List.

Gareth.

For it's three score and ten,
boys and men, were lost from (insert your favourite harbout here.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Amergin
Date: 17 Nov 02 - 08:02 PM

Like the song says, Gareth...she came to get wood chippings...and yes it was Bunker C...


I was on the clean up crew when it ran aground there...spending three weeks in Coos Bay then another week in Newport when the bow section ran aground...when i was with Clean Pacific...which was at that time an arm of Crowley Marine...now I think it is just a part of National Response Corp....and then I sailed down for a few days on the CP Columbia...cause they were suppose to tow the stern out....but they obviously didn't so we sailed home...the easiest money I have ever made....getting paid to watch videos...read....smoking fags...or sometimes just steering the vessel along the coast...

I remember watching the helicopters hovering over the vessel...as they dripped napalm into the tanks...rather interesting sight...watching balls of liquid fire dripping down....sometimes we'd come across a bird covered in oil....and then we'd have to radio in to our crew bosses and they would contact some one else....to properly dispose of the corpse....

the bastards that reallypissed us off by getting in our way when we were trying to work...were the vultures from the local and national news crews....i got in a row with one fellow...a few of us were unloading trucks full of baged up oily sand and brush...and tossing them into dumpsters...so they could be disposed of...and one news person came along with his camera on his shoulder and getting in our way when we're trying to chuck the bags into the bin..i pushed the camera out of the way with my grimy oily gloves and he yelled at me...i yelled back...and it went downhill from there...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: GUEST,Wendy
Date: 18 Nov 02 - 03:57 AM

Genie--

Jonathan's a friend, and I know the song you mean; yes it is different from this one. By the way, if you haven't heard his stuff with Mary and the gang on the Spinnaker CD, do check it out. They blew everybody away at this year's Folklife festival in Seattle. As far as I know they haven't recorded their New Carissa song yet, but you might check their website spinnakerband.com for more info.

Wendy

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Willie-O
Date: 18 Nov 02 - 05:51 AM

I don't understand about the bow. Is it two miles down vertically, or two miles down the shore? The song seems to say that it ended up stranded separately from the stern.

W O

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Amergin
Date: 18 Nov 02 - 01:18 PM

Willie-O,

When they tried to burn all the oil out...it basically cut the ship in half...the bow section was worked on...so it could float again...and so they eventually towed it off the shore...(before they did...the tide would get so low...that you could walk up to the bow and touch it)...and then there was another storm as they were towing the bow section out to sea to sink it..and it broke the lines...and so the bow section ended in the town of waldport....before they towed it off once more...and sank the bloody thing...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Genie
Date: 18 Nov 02 - 01:38 PM

The lyrics to Jonathan Lay's "New Carissa" song are posted in another "Carissa" thread.

Spinnaker plays at the Elephant & Castle bar in Portland, OR, on Friday nights.

Jeanene

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: New Carissa/Mary Ellen Carter
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Nov 02 - 05:16 PM

Genie-

I just checked one old New Carissa thread and the link to Jonathan Lay's song doesn't work. Maybe we need to contact him directly for the lyrics.

Charley Noble