Depth Perception

Yesterday after work I went to gawk at the Irving Johnson, a replica tall ship that ran aground at the mouth of the Channel Islands harbor on Monday. I'm not usually a person who goes to see things like that but I've always liked the tall ships and the whole 'ahoy matey, let's pirate and pillage' thing so I thought I'd check it out.

I arrived at the harbor mouth at about 6:30 p.m. As I drove up I could see the tilted masts peaking over the jetty, the sky pinkish and the silhouette of Anacapa Island off in the distance. It was a crazy sight. There was this antique-looking ship, with 88 foot masts, leaning sideways into the beach with waves crashing on it. A perfect postcard from the days before digital cameras. I felt like I'd been transported back in time to those days when there were no diesel engines, no navigation devices, no sandbar-sensing contraptions, no technology to prevent such mishaps. Then I noted that the beach was full of on-lookers, heavy machinery and official looking folks pointing and plotting the rescue attempt. Offshore a tug boat was being chained up. The massive boat was sitting in about 3 feet of water with divers in wetsuits wading around it, CAUTION tape strung about the beach to keep the onlookers back. Only in America.

A local who had been monitoring the progress of the rescue all day came up beside me to offer his opinions and observations. I just wanted to look at the massive, misplaced marvel and ponder how ironic life is. As my new friend chattered on, his words lost in the wind, I thought about how someone had spent millions of dollars making a replica of an old ship only to have it hit an uncharted sandbar - just as it might have done years ago. Now everyone was atwitter to save it - the modern way, of course. In its time the ship would have been left to the sea, abandoned and looted by opportunistics passers-by. Today, an expensive rescue was underway, insurance will likely cover the costs of recovery and salvage, and in a year it will be back to sea, people paying $12 a pop to take their kids on a tour.

I think it would be more cool to leave it there, against the jetty, and watch the ocean slowly devour the ship. Kids would love it - a real pirate ship available for pillaging. Parents would love the photo ops. Scientist and historians could team up to chart the effects. Of course, that would lead to liability, stupid people would let their kids play on it and get hurt, then suing anyone and everyone ever associated with a tall ship. Security would have to be posted at a heavy cost. Surfers would be upset with the interference in their waters. Environmentalists would claim the ship was polluting the ecosystem. Yep, only in America.