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Post by SS San Mateo on Sept 25, 2006 16:14:52 GMT -8
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Post by EGfleet on Sept 25, 2006 16:55:43 GMT -8
Hey, you're right! That's is a Steel Electric. I was so hung up on the novelty of the Chetzemoka being in the Islands I didn't catch that before.
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Post by SS Shasta on Sept 25, 2006 18:45:32 GMT -8
A most beautiful old clipping photo of the revered SS San Mateo and a new MV Hyak. I remember being down at Colman Dock during the summer of 1967 and being able to take several photos of MV Hyak arriving from Bremerton and SS San Mateo departing for Winslow. Wish I could find them, but they were lost in one of my many moves.
BTW, a college friend worked 3 summers in the galley on MV Chetzemoka during her service in the San Juan Islands. The "old Chetz" was the only wooden electric to work in the San Juans.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,150
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Post by Neil on Jan 7, 2008 11:54:40 GMT -8
Well, I guess it sounded like a good idea, at the time...
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Post by EGfleet on Jan 7, 2008 17:15:11 GMT -8
Well, I guess it sounded like a good idea, at the time... ] I hate seeing this happen to any vessel. The Klahanie endured a similar long and slow decline until she was set on fire--somewhat of a mercy killing. Incidentally, Google Earth has updated their image. You can see the San Mateo is partially underwater in the new shot.
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Post by hergfest on Jan 7, 2008 18:04:07 GMT -8
I can't see the top two pics.
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Post by Queen of Nanaimo Teen on Jan 7, 2008 20:55:27 GMT -8
Great story, thank you so much for posting that! It's really too bad that this couldn't have happened. And she looks really good in that photo to!
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 8, 2008 18:18:14 GMT -8
She would... it was in relatively salvageable shape in 1992. Poor old boat.
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 11, 2008 9:29:52 GMT -8
Huh.
Got another score the other day... good thing I've been lazy about getting that super-8 reel of the Pender Queen onto a DVD... I just managed to secure some footage shot at the Kingston ferry dock in August or early September 1969, with a brief shot of the Nisqually and a good thirty seconds of the San Mateo loading, departing, and underway (and the husband of the couple casually strolling toward the camera, but I was looking over his shoulder). So I have film of the last days of the San Mateo in the archives!
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Post by Retrovision on Jun 3, 2007 21:22:00 GMT -8
Chris, Doug and myself were surprised to find the San Mateo, the former WSF that the Queen of Sidney is rafted along at Silverdale near Mission on the Fraser River, listing a surprising ammount, and according to when Jim was last there taking photos this was a recent development. One pic for now
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Jun 3, 2007 22:03:03 GMT -8
Barnacle sure is not going to be happy about that. Did she spring a leak or what?
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Post by Ferryman on Jun 3, 2007 22:09:30 GMT -8
I must say, I was quite saddened to see that.
She always had a leak. But my theory is, with the high Fraser River waters, the hull is completely flooded, and is sitting on the slanted sandy river floor, causing it to lean on to the Sidney. I'll post some more pics on the Group trip thread....
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Post by WettCoast on Jun 3, 2007 22:25:46 GMT -8
I suspect that you are correct, Chris. When I looked in on the 30th of April the only thing missing was the high water. The Sidney appears to be floating just fine! This photo is included for comparison purposes Sidney & San Mateo on 30 April 2007
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Post by Barnacle on Jun 3, 2007 22:41:07 GMT -8
Well, I know that the (last known) owner had deliberately flooded the engine room in an attempt to keep people from strolling off with the few remaining artifacts aboard; I rather snuck onto the ramp once a few years ago but didn't brave the vessel itself as there was a rather large chunk of the deck missing right at the joint in the ramp.
Not to pick on your great and wonderful country, but I knew that her last real hope of survival died in 1993 when she left US waters for a place where she has no history whatsoever. You wouldn't expect the Sidney to last long down here, either.
Sigh.
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Post by NMcKay on Jun 4, 2007 7:47:39 GMT -8
I think they said that the hull was flooded, but i think the port side still had some float left in it, and that caused the list.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Jun 4, 2007 8:41:06 GMT -8
Too bad someone didn't get the idea to turn her into a floating cottage or houseboat. At least preserve her deckhouse if the hull is beyond repair.
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Post by SS San Mateo on Jun 4, 2007 12:44:54 GMT -8
Too bad someone didn't get the idea to turn her into a floating cottage or houseboat. At least preserve her deckhouse if the hull is beyond repair. The deckhouse is more or less beyond repair as well. Parts of it have peeled away and it looks like it could collapse with a fairly heavy snowfall.
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Post by Electric Thunderbird on Jun 4, 2007 13:09:50 GMT -8
This photo is included for comparison purposes Sidney & San Mateo on 30 April 2007In the earlier photo, its floating very low in the water, likely flooded to some degree already.
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Post by Retrovision on Jun 4, 2007 13:10:17 GMT -8
and it looks like it could collapse with a fairly heavy snowfall. Actually this was even noted in EvergreenFleet's recent book, saying that it probably would colapse in a heavy enough snowfall which we've even had since the book was published, putting the superstructure of the San Mateo in even an even more perilous position today. Here are some more views of our palliative patient from yesterday: I think they said that the hull was flooded, but i think the port side still had some float left in it, and that caused the list. This would make the most sense to me as she was more level at a lower river level and would less likely be sitting on the bottom, not more. - If you're new to the story of the San Mateo, then check out our forum member Evergreenfleet's comprehensive webpage about the 'Mateo from his website www.evergreenfleet.com/mateo.html
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Post by Fenklebaum on Jun 4, 2007 19:59:15 GMT -8
I would not be at all surprised if the Queen of Sidney, having protected the San Mateo for several years, deals the death blow to our beloved steam ferry in a few weeks. When the water levels drop in the Fraser... where will the Sidneys' port rubrail come squarely to rest? If you can't see the answer in the above photos... well, glasses might help.
Somehow I think now would be the time for someone to go... how to put this ceremoniously? "Treasure hunting" might be the appropriate term. There sure as hell won't be a next time. And given the love and affection (or lack thereof) her current owner has bestowed upon her, I suspect there are probably quite a few historical gems still aboard.
Fenk, who does not in any way, shape, or form condone illegal behaviour, and who is never at all sarcastic
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Post by NMcKay on Jun 4, 2007 19:59:49 GMT -8
i heard some rumor that the loggin company that had her up until Art Bought it took the windows and Stack down, and are sitting in a warehouse in maple ridge.
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Post by Retrovision on Jun 4, 2007 20:16:11 GMT -8
i heard some rumor that the loggin company that had her up until Art Bought it took the windows and Stack down, and are sitting in a warehouse in maple ridge. That would be news to our forum member Evergreenfleet, as his website notes those items having been lost without a trace years ago. I certainly hope that rumour turns out to be truth.
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Post by EGfleet on Jun 4, 2007 20:41:15 GMT -8
i heard some rumor that the loggin company that had her up until Art Bought it took the windows and Stack down, and are sitting in a warehouse in maple ridge. That would be news to our forum member Evergreenfleet, as his website notes those items having been lost without a trace years ago. I certainly hope that rumour turns out to be truth. The stack was allegedly taken down by her owner, Gary Bereska before moving her from Lake Union. As to the clearstory windows, they were (again, according to Bereska) stored in one of the wheelhouses for safe keeping and were stolen not long after moving her up the Fraser.
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Post by Retrovision on Jun 4, 2007 21:30:43 GMT -8
That would be news to our forum member Evergreenfleet, as his website notes those items having been lost without a trace years ago. I certainly hope that rumour turns out to be truth. The stack was allegedly taken down by her owner, Gary Bereska before moving her from Lake Union. As to the clearstory windows, they were (again, according to Bereska) stored in one of the wheelhouses for safe keeping and were stolen not long after moving her up the Fraser. Sorry 'bout that, paraphrasing always seems to get me in trouble From www.evergreenfleet.com/mateo.html
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,150
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Post by Neil on Jun 5, 2007 21:34:44 GMT -8
I'm wondering what the responsibilty, or legal liability, the owner of the San Mateo has for the state of his vessel. It seems that, through neglect, the boat has rotted away to the extent that it's sunk into the muck, and I can't imagine how you salvage or properly dismantle a vessel that can't be re-floated. Is it okay to leave huge old hulks on the banks of the Fraser until they rot away and sink, in a major public waterway? And is he planning on doing the same thing with the Sidney, until the inevitable happens again? Whatever government body has responsibility for the moorage location of the two boats needs to influence the owner to look after his property.
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