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Post by SS Shasta on Jun 20, 2010 10:24:04 GMT -8
Many thanks for the photos. This is such a dreadfully sad story. She was such a beautiful vessel to ride on; it was almost a real venture back into the 1920's with her lovely stained glass windows, wood benches, and smell of hot engine oil mixing with cooking hamburgers in her galley. Rode her many times between Seattle and Winslow and later Edmonds to Kingston. Are there others posting here that had the privilege to ride on her or her sister SS Shasta?
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tom98250
Deckhand
Life doesn't get better than this...
Posts: 85
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Post by tom98250 on Jun 20, 2010 10:46:33 GMT -8
I rode the San Mateo with my parents from Edmonds to Kingston, some time around 1962. All that I can really remember (I would have been not quite two at the time) is the whistle as she pulled away from the dock.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,150
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Post by Neil on Jun 20, 2010 10:59:11 GMT -8
For all the comments about how sad the San Mateo's condition is, I think it annoys me more that the owner is using the banks of one of Canada's greatest rivers as his own personal garbage dump. I believe that he's far enough up the river to be out of the Port of Vancouver's jurisdiction, or he would probably be forced to get rid of the mess that the San Mateo has become, and that the 'Sidney is on her way to becoming.
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Post by lmtengs on Jun 20, 2010 13:17:51 GMT -8
...I believe that he's far enough up the river to be out of the Port of Vancouver's jurisdiction... You are correct. The Port of Vancouver's jurisdiction, as far as I know, ends at the border of Metro Vancouver, which ends at the East border of Maple Ridge and the East border of Langley, so I think that it would need to be the Department of Fisheries and Oceans or whoever controls the environment that would need to get the ships moved from there. There's gotta be at least ten vessels at the graveyard. There are two flat-top barges, the San Mateo, the 'Sidney, at least 4 fishing boats, a dilapidated house-boat thingy, a speedboat or two, and a boat labelled in spray paint as the Queen of East Van. I'm not sure if there are any ships by the bow of the 'Sidney, but I wouldn't be surprised.
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Post by SS Shasta on Jun 21, 2010 10:08:39 GMT -8
I believe that he's far enough up the river to be out of the Port of Vancouver's jurisdiction, or he would probably be forced to get rid of the mess that the San Mateo has become, and that the ' Sidney is on her way to becoming. Does the person responsible for this mess own both vessels (correction ex-vessels)?
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Post by lmtengs on Jun 21, 2010 10:34:36 GMT -8
I believe that he's far enough up the river to be out of the Port of Vancouver's jurisdiction, or he would probably be forced to get rid of the mess that the San Mateo has become, and that the ' Sidney is on her way to becoming. Does the person responsible for this mess own both vessels (correction ex-vessels)? Yes.
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Post by EGfleet on Aug 6, 2010 13:32:30 GMT -8
I found a photo on a local blog with an historic picture of the River Queen Restaurant / SS Shasta. Courtesy of the blog StumpTown Blogger, with a link to a larger version of the photo on the site: This photo shows the boat moored at what was at the time a refueling dock near Sellwood Park on the Willamette River near the southern city limits of Portland. (I used to live in a house just beyond the trees at the top of the photo.) I seem to recall that the location of the restaurant was well upstream along the river just North of Downtown Portland. This would have been well before my time here (on Earth), but my first reaction is that it was at this place very temporarily. But I could be wrong. In any case, it is a nice picture of the boat -- thought I would share what I found. I just happened on a copy of this postcard. On the back it says "River Queen: 201 S.E. Spokane Ave, Portland 2, Oregon. Northwest's Only Floating Restaurant." They seem to have overlooked the old Ballard/Surfside 9 on Lake Union at the time. Stamped on the back over the map is: NEW LOCATION! River Queen 1300 N.W. Front And below that a stamp for "Sept 3 1965" So that gives us a date as to when she moved.
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Post by Barnacle on Aug 6, 2010 17:08:45 GMT -8
I wonder why SS Shasta failed as a restaurant in downtown Portland? I've had dinner on her a few times years ago, and the food was good and the place attracted quite a crowd. It certainly was a unique place to dine and I was rather surprised that it failed. I do remember that it was a bit difficult to find, but I am certainly no expert in driving downtown Portland. I just spotted this and thought I would elaborate... the owner simply shut it down on December 31, 1995. He was tired and ready to retire. I happened to walk aboard that last day... the old girl might've photographed well from a distance, but up close she was looking tired and run-down. And that was almost 15 years ago. Ships are, no matter what, an expensive proposition.
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Post by lmtengs on Oct 17, 2010 19:13:59 GMT -8
Today, I drove past the San Mateo. They've got a crane set up hanging over the ship, and there's about three times as much lumber sitting next to the ship as there was last time. They've done something to the ship, but I couldn't identify exactly what.
I believe they're getting ready to scrap her on-site. That's what the owner said he was going to have done when I telephone-interviewed him over the summer.
I couldn't get any photos today, because my battery died just a few minutes earlier, but last time I was there about two weeks ago I got some.
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mrdot
Voyager
Mr. DOT
Posts: 1,252
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Post by mrdot on Oct 17, 2010 20:45:28 GMT -8
many years ago my wife and I visited her relitives in Seattle and I viewed the laid up San Mateo over queen anne hill area as I recall and how did she get to this sad end, along with my old Q. of Sidney, waisting away on the banks of the Fraser, the Fraser estuary seems to be a graveyard for many oldtimers from our shared marine past. mrdot.
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Post by lmtengs on Nov 14, 2010 16:20:09 GMT -8
An update on the San Mateo's situation... I guess this is the company that's going to be scrapping her. I believe this crane will be helping the process. I was going to attach my zoom-lens for this one, but it was raining too much for it to be safe to do so without getting the interior of my camera wet: I'm going to wait on posting any more pics of the San Mateo until her scrapping progresses a little more. Until then, it's just a bunch more of the same thing. So unless anyone enjoys these periodic updates (speak up if you do), then this'll be the last for awhile.
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Post by EGfleet on Jul 28, 2011 7:57:56 GMT -8
Update on the S.S. Shasta/River Queen: Received an email from the man who just purchased her. He plans to renovate the Shasta into a living space for himself and a workshop for his company. Looks like there may be hope for the old girl yet. Will keep you posted if I get anymore information.
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Post by WettCoast on Jan 3, 2012 22:26:42 GMT -8
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mrdot
Voyager
Mr. DOT
Posts: 1,252
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Post by mrdot on Feb 17, 2012 14:14:35 GMT -8
:)yes, shasta sure looks good in the evergreen livery, nice post! mrdot.
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Post by Barnacle on Feb 20, 2012 5:24:30 GMT -8
One of these days I'd love to find a color photo of either the Shasta or San Mateo in Black Ball livery, just to compare... anyone ever seen such a photo that wasn't hand-tinted?
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Post by EGfleet on Mar 24, 2012 7:20:12 GMT -8
Someone was kind enough to send me a recent photo of the San Mateo...the break up of the vessel has started and most of her passenger cabin appears to have already been demolished. If anyone wants to get any last photos of her, it would probably be better to get them sooner than later...
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Post by lmtengs on Mar 24, 2012 10:14:53 GMT -8
Someone was kind enough to send me a recent photo of the San Mateo...the break up of the vessel has started and most of her passenger cabin appears to have already been demolished. If anyone wants to get any last photos of her, it would probably be better to get them sooner than later... Will do, I'll see if I can head down tomorrow!
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mrdot
Voyager
Mr. DOT
Posts: 1,252
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Post by mrdot on Mar 24, 2012 12:28:51 GMT -8
:)perhaps it would have been a kinder fate if she and sidney could have made it down to the mexican re-cyclers! :'(mrdot.
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Post by lmtengs on Mar 24, 2012 13:10:04 GMT -8
:)perhaps it would have been a kinder fate if she and sidney could have made it down to the mexican re-cyclers! :'(mrdot. After all that's happened to the San Mateo already, I'd rather see her scrapped here than in Mexico. She doesn't even float anymore, so it's a smart decision to scrap her on-site in Silverdale rather than attempt to lift her onto a barge and tow her away for scrapping. Plus, I can drop by and say goodbye!
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Post by SS San Mateo on Mar 24, 2012 19:21:46 GMT -8
I came across this photoset on Flickr of the San Mateo. One of the pictures was taken 03/17 and very little of the upper deck is left. It looks like part of the car deck wall has been removed as well.
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Post by rusty on Mar 24, 2012 20:13:52 GMT -8
The story of the San Mateo is a true tragedy, considering that is was once "saved" for posterity. That Seattle maritime whatever never saved anything.
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Post by Barnacle on Mar 25, 2012 5:59:14 GMT -8
The story of the San Mateo is a true tragedy, considering that is was once "saved" for posterity. That Seattle maritime whatever never saved anything. Seattle has never cared much for its maritime history. Part of the problem is the influx of people from other parts of the nation (indeed, world) who don't have any knowledge of it, and cannot be reasonably expected to automatically have any interest without learning it. This, of course, reduces the percentage of those who do care to an even smaller number, and the outcries are eventually reduced to whispers, and then silence. Look at how small the whimper was about dismantling the Wawona. (Probably because even the enthusiasts, except for six people at Northwest Seaport, knew that it was a sodden hulk well beyond repair when NWS got the boat.) Nobody knew much about its history any more, and even fewer cared. I certainly didn't care. I wanted nothing to do with NWS after they let the San Mateo go. They called me when my dues lapsed, and they were shocked when I told them they had sold the only vessel I was interested in.
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Post by lmtengs on Mar 25, 2012 12:55:14 GMT -8
Here's a selection of pictures of the partially scrapped San Mateo from today. More are posted in the Voyager thread. Her wheelhouse has collapsed. On the other end of the ship, there's little left of the passenger deck.
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Post by dasgeneral on Mar 25, 2012 17:23:38 GMT -8
How is that not an asbestos hazard? I'd bet money that some of those pipes were insulated using asbestos, and I guarantee that British Columbia has laws about asbestos getting into the water supply.
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Post by rusty on Mar 25, 2012 17:49:23 GMT -8
Probably asbestos, definitely lots of lead. What pressure did that boat run?
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