when i woke up Saturday morning i could not believe my eyes.
as i rubbed my eyes i kept looking out my floor to ceiling sliding glass doors on my floating home which give me a spectacular view of downtown Seattle, all of its Amazon inspired high rises, and the iconic Space Needle.
in front of me on a typical summer day is the broad expanse of beautiful Lake Union in Seattle dotted with rowing crews, stand up paddleboarders, kayakers, boaters and sea planes.
but not on Saturday. instead i am looking at the broadside of a gigantic, 225′ long monstrous Alaska fish processor ship. it is floating in the middle of the lake, but moving in my direction.
the winds are coming from the southwest, and they are really wiping — some 15-20 mph. the winds are pushing the huge commercial vessel toward me and my floating home. and the ship is getting closer and closer.
i live on a floating home in Lake Union, that is 30 feet wide and two stories high. but the vessel whose name is Fresh Ocean is seven times longer and two times taller than my floating home. and it weighs a hell of lot more. it weighs 1,055 tons!
148 elephants weigh 1,000 tons. three Boeing 747 jets weigh 1,000 tons.
my eyes get bigger, as i cannot believe what i am seeing. why is this huge ship moving towards me, i ask myself. why is the ship not moving out into the center of the lake?
this is getting dangerous, i say to myself. oh my God. what is happening here? if this ship does not move quickly it is going to crash into my floating home.
crash into. maybe not. maybe it will demolish my home. maybe it will sink my home. maybe it will destroy my house. maybe it will dislodge my floating home from its dock and it will float away into the lake. maybe it will…
before i know it the ship is just a few feet away from me and my houseboat. i yell to the crew what is going on. they yell back that they have lost power. they have lost power!
here it comes. there is nothing i can do about it. here it comes. this behemoth of a vessel is about to crash into my floating home. what can i do? nothing.
and i have no idea what is about to happen. there are so many possible scenarios running through my head right now.
CRUUUUNCH. CRUUUUNCH. the ship crunches into my floating home and two other floating homes to my east.
miraculously the houseboat does not crumble from the impact. it does not sink. it stays afloat. but the floating home definitely is pushed back into the dock that i am tied up to.
what happens next? within 10 minutes or so, somehow the captain of the vessel is able to get his engines going. he begins to put the vessel in reverse and slowly, carefully moves west into the major part of the lake. the vessel is gone from my houseboat.
i am stunned. i scratch my head, wondering what just happened. never, ever did think that something like this could possibly happen. it was frankly a little traumatic.
but no time for that right now. my first and immediate concern was whether there had been some damage done to my float, such that it might sink. my second concern was whether the crunch against the dock may have broken the connections that holds my houseboat to the dock. my third concern was whether the crunch had damaged the dock such that it was unsafe or unsteady.
i immediately called a dive service that i know well, and their response was fantastic. even though it was a Saturday morning, they had their best diver over to my houseboat in 30 minutes in a wet suit and dive gear, in the water examining everything. bottom line, my houseboat is still floating (lost one barrel used to keep the home floating); the houseboat is still attached to the dock; and the dock is still standing but took a beating (camel logs are submerged, maybe further structural damage).
next an array of calls to the company that owns the ship, the Coast Guard, the Seattle Police Department harbor patrol, the dry dock facility that was repairing the vessel, my insurance broker, my handyman, sheet metal company, landscaping contractor to get repair estimates for the obvious damage to the houseboat, and the survey company to determine whether the dock has been moved.
to the shipping company’s credit, the head of the company reached out to me, apologized profusely and indicated that they would take care of any costs incurred. he also asked if he could come over to meet with me on Monday, and i said yes.
nevertheless, a crazy day. a crazy experience. one with some momentary trauma.
Thank God, he is with you.
Let us know what happens when you meet on Monday!!
That is the craziest thing I have ever seen! I am so sorry but also pleased at their response to cover costs! Glad you weren’t hurt!
So scary!!!
I am perplexed. Why didn’t the ship drop an anchor when it lost power?
The photos were fantastic. The size of the ship versus the size of your houseboat and YOU were stunningly different. Goliath versus Baby Louie.
Neil, Words fail me! Thank God for sparing you and your home from worse damage. How did you have the courage to stand where you were to get those pictures?
Janet
Neil, This is quite the story. Like you say, who would have believed something like that could ever happen. its bizarre. I was shaking as i read this. We know you love adventure, but this is beyond adventure. We are happy you are okay. Did you get off the houseboat, and witness this from farther away at some point? The pictures look as if you are right there. I just cannot believe that picture. But, I am glad you are safe, and all seems okay . What a day that was. Good you were on it. One day, we would still love to come to visit you, we are not that far away. But, all after covid. We got our 2nd shot yesterday, How about you? Stay safe, Neil, and next time, don’t make it so exciting-eh?
Wow!! Neil you often speaks of angels who are with you…..
What an experience. So glad that you are okay and the company is being so cooperative?
Sandy
Eegads!! What an amazing experience!! Thank God you and the houseboat are ok!!
Vogs
Bloody hell, Neil. Is all well now? Never heard of such a thing. Glad you’re OK. But why indeed didn’t the derelict fishing boat drop anchor when it saw the situation? And did you consider “jumping ship” and hightailing it down the dock? The outcome could have been much worse. You couldn’t have known it would just turn out to be a ship kiss. Sure sounds like the various authorities in Seattle and the offending ship owner are good and decent people. I be remembering this tale a very long time. Pock
Wow! Neil that is quite a story. We are so glad you, your home, and your neighbors are all safe and no major damaged.
Never a dull moment with Neil!
My immediate reaction was the same as Lee’s above. Why didn’t they drop anchor?
What’s most amazing is that this incident doesn’t even rank in the top 5 of Neil’s adventures and close calls over the years.
What a close call! Just inches from complete disaster. Thank God it turned out you were left with “minimal” damage. It must have seemed like a bad dream. I’ll join with others in prayer that the repairs go smoothly and you can somehow recover from the trauma. It’s a wake up to how helpless and vulnerable we all really are. Love-Nancy