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Diving into salvage work
By Susan Chambers, Staff Writer
Saturday, July 19, 2008 | No comments posted.
COOS BAY — Eric Woelfel is no stranger to hard work around the ocean.
He’s been a commercial fisherman for years, fishing out of Charleston and Port Orford for some of that time, but also spending time in California and Alaska. He longlined for halibut and sablefish and also dove for urchins back in the heyday of urchin diving, the 1980s to mid-’90s.
Through all of that, he learned several hands-on techniques useful in general maritime trade work. It was that expertise on which he was able to draw for the project that brought him back to the South Coast: the New Carissa.
“I’ve got a pretty diversified skill set,” Woelfel said.
He now lives in Eugene but visited North Bend earlier this year to take a look at the New Carissa and the work Titan Salvage was preparing for.
“I started investigating the project,” he said, “and started chatting with David (Parrot). I told him I was interested in diving on it.”
Woelfel may not be diving on the wreck but he is doing some of the cutting work on the rusty shell.
“We’re almost down to the engine room now,” he said a couple weeks ago while relaxing with other Titan workers at a barbecue. “I’m doing topside support.”
Most of the Titan Salvage guys put in 12- to 14-hour days. Cutting up the wreck is grisly, grimy, tough work that starts at between 6 and 6:30 a.m.
Titan crews head to the wreck in two four-wheel-drive vans, then hold a brief safety meeting to discuss the scope of the day’s work, Woelfel said.
“Then you start your steel work,” he said. “You get in your climbing gear and start.”
Each day, the men, strapped in climbing harnesses and tethered to lines tied off on the wreck or suspended from a crane, are dressed in heavy boots, thick coveralls and gloves, warm clothes and welding hoods or similar safety gear. They often work within the confines of the tides, cutting lower in the wreck when the tide is out.
“You get as much done as you can, hanging from a rope and swinging a 4-foot torch,” he said.
Woelfel is intimately familiar with the harshness of the summer weather on the ocean. While it may be sunny on land, winds on the ocean make sensitive work difficult. Some fishermen had doubts as to whether Titan would get a break in the weather sufficient to get its barges to the New Carissa and also get the ship salvaged, but not Woelfel.
“If anybody could do it, Titan could,” he said. “There was no doubt in my mind.”
He’s been a commercial fisherman for years, fishing out of Charleston and Port Orford for some of that time, but also spending time in California and Alaska. He longlined for halibut and sablefish and also dove for urchins back in the heyday of urchin diving, the 1980s to mid-’90s.
Through all of that, he learned several hands-on techniques useful in general maritime trade work. It was that expertise on which he was able to draw for the project that brought him back to the South Coast: the New Carissa.
“I’ve got a pretty diversified skill set,” Woelfel said.
He now lives in Eugene but visited North Bend earlier this year to take a look at the New Carissa and the work Titan Salvage was preparing for.
“I started investigating the project,” he said, “and started chatting with David (Parrot). I told him I was interested in diving on it.”
Woelfel may not be diving on the wreck but he is doing some of the cutting work on the rusty shell.
“We’re almost down to the engine room now,” he said a couple weeks ago while relaxing with other Titan workers at a barbecue. “I’m doing topside support.”
Most of the Titan Salvage guys put in 12- to 14-hour days. Cutting up the wreck is grisly, grimy, tough work that starts at between 6 and 6:30 a.m.
Titan crews head to the wreck in two four-wheel-drive vans, then hold a brief safety meeting to discuss the scope of the day’s work, Woelfel said.
“Then you start your steel work,” he said. “You get in your climbing gear and start.”
Each day, the men, strapped in climbing harnesses and tethered to lines tied off on the wreck or suspended from a crane, are dressed in heavy boots, thick coveralls and gloves, warm clothes and welding hoods or similar safety gear. They often work within the confines of the tides, cutting lower in the wreck when the tide is out.
“You get as much done as you can, hanging from a rope and swinging a 4-foot torch,” he said.
Woelfel is intimately familiar with the harshness of the summer weather on the ocean. While it may be sunny on land, winds on the ocean make sensitive work difficult. Some fishermen had doubts as to whether Titan would get a break in the weather sufficient to get its barges to the New Carissa and also get the ship salvaged, but not Woelfel.
“If anybody could do it, Titan could,” he said. “There was no doubt in my mind.”
Looking for more about the project? See these stories:
Kulongoski wowed by progress
Bay Area native on the team
Making a dangerous job safer
Wreck visitors also must wear safety gear
Kulongoski wowed by progress
Bay Area native on the team
Making a dangerous job safer
Wreck visitors also must wear safety gear
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