Fishing boat catches pieces of mystery ship
CHARLESTON, Ore. – When the fishing vessel Grumpy J dropped its net 500 fathoms down on the morning of Feb. 1, the crew didn't expect to end up snagging a mystery.
Now pieces of another ship sit in dry dock in Charleston: the Grumpy J pulled in an anchor system and about 20-feet of charred bow stem. The wreckage now sits undistinguished, awaiting the determination of a Coast Guard investigation.
The Coast Guard was notified by the Harbormaster after the Grumpy J brought the pieces back in with the idea of helping the Coast Guard if they were looking for any recent missing vessels.
But, at this point, the Coast Guard says their investigation has not turned up any identifiable marks, and they say they will not speculate as to which ship the pieces may belong to.
Local fishermen will speculate, and have, with most of that speculation centering on a vessel that went missing in September 2003.
The C Lady and her captain, Ken Tison, were last seen that August and were reported missing on Sept. 4, 2003.
The C Lady was described as a white, wooden-hulled, 60-foot fishing vessel that was rigged for tuna. The 61-year-old Tison was described as a 30-year fishing veteran.
The vessel's life-ring was the only piece recovered at the time, some 60 miles off the coast of Port Orford.
It remains to be seen if this week's mysterious discovery could mean that the rest of that vessel can now be accounted for as well.
Now pieces of another ship sit in dry dock in Charleston: the Grumpy J pulled in an anchor system and about 20-feet of charred bow stem. The wreckage now sits undistinguished, awaiting the determination of a Coast Guard investigation.
The Coast Guard was notified by the Harbormaster after the Grumpy J brought the pieces back in with the idea of helping the Coast Guard if they were looking for any recent missing vessels.
But, at this point, the Coast Guard says their investigation has not turned up any identifiable marks, and they say they will not speculate as to which ship the pieces may belong to.
Local fishermen will speculate, and have, with most of that speculation centering on a vessel that went missing in September 2003.
The C Lady and her captain, Ken Tison, were last seen that August and were reported missing on Sept. 4, 2003.
The C Lady was described as a white, wooden-hulled, 60-foot fishing vessel that was rigged for tuna. The 61-year-old Tison was described as a 30-year fishing veteran.
The vessel's life-ring was the only piece recovered at the time, some 60 miles off the coast of Port Orford.
It remains to be seen if this week's mysterious discovery could mean that the rest of that vessel can now be accounted for as well.