Having been away from Mudcat for awhile, I was surprised to see a thread naming the New Carissa! What a nightmare it has truly been, and continues to be. The ship became grounded February 4th, and its plight is still ongoing.

As far as traveling to go see the ship, come on! It's a damn ship stuck on the beach! That's truly all there is to see. I guess that's easy for me to say. Although I live in Coos Bay, I have not been one of the "regulars" that sit perched atop Radar Road to watch the progress. I have been amazed at the entourage this ship attracts - whether in pieces or whole!

Before they used napalm and torpedoes to ignite the fuel trapped aboard the ship, the newscasts in Portland and other areas were warning people NOT to go to Coos Bay, as the fumes would be toxic. I *never* heard that on the local news. The days that ignited the fuel (days plural because the first fire failed) found hoards of people perched atop Radar Road with their binoculars and expensive cameras. One entrepenuerial resident of the Radar Road area sold baked goods and had a binocular rental.

The stern of this ship is still stuck on the beach of Coos Bay, with no plans in the near future for removal. Thee have been plenty of talks about turning it into a tourist attraction. e-gads!

But when I heard about the line breaking in the process of dragging the bow out to see to sink her, I found myself (embarassingly) laughing obnoxiously at the misfortune of it becoming re-beached.

The clean-up continues, and will continue although the beach is once again open for public use.

Now with more details at hand(napalm, binoculars, etc.), perhaps the songwriters among us will feel more inspired.

Rose, from the formerly pristine southern Oregon coast