Saturday, August 15, 2009

"The Day Eldia Moored at the Shore"


It seems like only yesterday but it was twenty-five years ago on March 30,1984 when the Maltese freighter "Eldia" beached on Nauset Beach in Orleans on Cape Cod. (Click on the photo on the left to get a larger view of this stranded ship). The "Eldia" was 473 feet long and weighed 9,807 tons. After dropping off a load of Colombian sugar to St. John, New Brunswick, this ill fated vessel ran into a storm with eighty mile winds and couldn't help beaching on to the sand.
This was quite a sight to see and many,many people came to take a look at this easily accessible site. The crowds reminded me a little of a pilgrimage to see a UFO or something as everyone just kind of showed up to take a look on their own. I tried to organize some of the visitors to help push this ship out to sea again but try as we did for some reason this boat wouldn't move.
The "Eldia" was salvaged two months later by Donjon salvage and later scrapped.

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