Beached barge, Gasparilla Island, Boca Grande, FL

[appsyscons]

One of our daughters is visiting from NJ, so we went to the beach earlier today. I had been there several weeks ago, and was surprised to find this beached barge.

To see all 44 pictures click here:

Beached barge, 44 pictures


View from stern




View from side





View from bow




To see all 44 pictures click here:

Beached barge, 44 pictures

[Bobcat]

I can fix it.


Is it windy as heck up there? 15-20MPH here.

[Big Time]

Is that think really tied up? Doesn't look like it is going anywhere for a while.

[appsyscons]

I can fix it.


Is it windy as heck up there? 15-20MPH here.

NE 16mph today, thats windy for here.

Is that think really tied up? Doesn't look like it is going anywhere for a while.

Yes tied up, anchored into beach.

[appsyscons]

Large barge still beached, awaiting final action

The "Waldo" barge still sits, and waits, at the beach between 10th and 11th Streets.
The fate of the barge that remains on the beach between 9th and 10th Streets is still a mystery, as its owners ponder what to do next, but turning it into a reef isn’t out of the question.

Phil Gauntlett, a spokesperson for American Marine Constructors, Inc. out of Sarasota, is trying to maintain a sense of humor as he contemplates the 135-feet of steel and tons of rock that need to be moved.

“Well, we just haven’t gotten all the gold doubloons out of it yet,” he said. “We have to leave it there for now.” Gauntlett is referring to the wreck, which looks like a rock-laden pirate ship to some. The story of the barge is long and harrowing, but he described the vessel’s journey from beginning to end. “The day they were heading into the Pass it was very stormy with six to eight foot swells,” he explained. “They ended up fighting with the barge for about five hours but couldn’t get it back together. They never even made it into the Pass.”

The barge, which was headed to El Jobean on Monday, Aug. 23, broke loose from the tug that was towing it and wandered from the old “L” dock on the south end of the island (near the Boca Bay Pass Club), all the way up to its current resting place.

When salvage crews went out last Friday, Aug. 27, they found the beached barge had a broken back. “That’s what we call it when it snaps in the middle,” Gauntlett said. “It’s back is broken. The structural steel isn’t good any more, so it has to be salvaged. There’s a lot of people involved in this, from the Coast Guard to the people of Boca Grande, and we want to make the right decision.”

When presented with the idea the barge’s remains be turned into an offshore reef, Gauntlett said that would work very well for his company if all parties involved agreed.
“It’s definitely worth looking into,” he said.

[boostbros]

if we could straighten it out and make it float im looking for one for our tug! i want to build a floating island with tiki huts i think it would be neet!

[LAriverratt]

if we could straighten it out and make it float im looking for one for our tug! i want to build a floating island with tiki huts i think it would be neet!

that would be neat but that barge is definitely a fixer upper

[ratabastardahole]

One of our daughters is visiting from NJ, so we went to the beach earlier today. I had been there several weeks ago, and was surprised to find this beached barge.

To see all 44 pictures click here:

Beached barge, 44 pictures


View from stern





View from side





View from bow




To see all 44 pictures click here:

Beached barge, 44 pictures

DON'T TOUCH THAT BARGE.....stecz already called dibs

[appsyscons]

They finally have all of the permits in place, and have begun to remove the barge. First they are removing everything from the barge, and then will plan to remove the barge.

Todays 37 pictures

Beached barge, original 44 pictures

Here is the barge being worked on




I went to a few other places on the island. Here is the Boca Grande Pass Lighthouse, first lit on December 31, 1890. It is a two-story frame dwelling raised on iron screw-piles, with the lantern placed in a cupola at the peak of the roof. The keeper lived in the lighthouse. A similar house (without a lantern) built next to it was the assistant keeper's dwelling.




Here is the old phosphate pier, built in 1904, to eliminate the phosphate from being barged across Charlotte Harbor. The phosphate originally went onto ocean going schooners, and then steam powered ships.



Here is the range light, originally constructed in 1885 to serve as the Delaware Breakwater Rear Range Light. Due to erosion, the light was decommissioned in 1918. The tower was disassembled in 1921, and reassembled on Gasparilla Island in 1927. However, the light was not lit until 1932, when it began service as the rear entrance range light for Port Boca Grande, with the 20' front entrance range light approximately one mile off shore in the Gulf of Mexico. When the two lights, which flashed at different rates, lined up, the ships' navigators knew it was time to turn to enter Gasparilla Pass.




Todays 37 pictures

Beached barge, original 44 pictures

[endeavor1]

Cool history to go along with the pix. Thanks

[Bobcat]

Cool stuff ! unfortunately I would end up as the assistant lighthouse keeper.....unless I did away with the lighthouse keeper