Dismasting the Lion's Whelp - Port Clean Up Part 1

Remember this from my last post?

Our oldest son, Sean, got the opportunity to be a part of the crew working to clear some of the sunken vessels in our port.


The design of his boat makes a particularly good working boat for dive crews.

It's deck gives easy access to equipment and convenient places for divers to load and unload.

Radon boats are frequently used as dive boats.

After the hazmat crews did their thing to clean up the area around the Lion's Whelp, the dive and salvage crew got to work.

The first step was to dismast her.

The more I learn about the history of this ship the more bittersweet the process seems.

As I hear the stories of her history and the lives she has touched....

The adventures she has seen....

The places she has been...

It has all made me stop at take a better look.

But it had to be done.

The wreckage needed to be cleared.

Our Port officials and work crews have accomplished an amazing amount in a really short period of time.

They've been working really hard and doing the best they can under some really long hours and unfavorable weather conditions.

I'm pretty proud of them all.

And this is all sort of fascinating.

But it's painful at the same time.

I'm pretty sure Sean feels the same way.

Glad for the opportunity...

But sad to see this beauty go.

As a very small child he would drag books of wooden boat designs (courtesy of his sailboat loving dad) into his bunk bed at bed time and build models of sailboats from whatever he could find.

I'll post a photo some time soon of one of my favorite things...a model he made from balsa wood, a metal keel and fabric for sails.

It's been one of his lifetime interests.

It's funny how when you look back you can see the path so clearly but when you try to look ahead it all seems so mysterious.

There's no places he's happier than on a boat.

Robert made him wave for me.

He looks thrilled huh?

More to come,

Cath