It’s the end of an era for Aptos.
Last winter, El Nino storm waves split the S.S. Palo Alto ship. And on Saturday, the stern connected to the long pier at Seacliff State Beach was tossed onto its side by even bigger, more powerful, winter waves.
Under the forces of Mother Nature, the S.S. Palo Alto has slowly crumbled into the sea for decades. But locals were still stunned by how dramatically the ship shifted during this swell.
The heavy local landmark, while made out of concrete, is nicknamed the “Cement Ship.”
National Weather Service forecaster Drew Peterson told that they were seeing the largest swell readings in Monterey Bay that any of the forecasters could recall. At one point the buoy recorded a swell of 34 feet.
“It’s just an unusual January with this active weather. With the Cement Ship, we’re starting to see the ramifications,” Peterson said.
The S.S. Palo Alto is a historic symbol in Santa Cruz County. The concrete ship was built as a tanker at the end of World War I by the San Francisco Shipbuilding Company at the U.S. Naval Shipyard in Oakland. She was launched on 29 May 1919, too late to see service in the war and was mothballed in Oakland until 1929, when she was bought by the Seacliff Amusement Corporation and towed to Seacliff State Beach and refitted as an amusement ship.
Amenities included a dance floor, a swimming pool and a cafe. Winter storms in 1932 ruptured the ship’s hull and the company closed down. The Palo Alto was stripped of her fittings and left as a fishing pier. Eventually she deteriorated to the point where she was unsafe for this purpose and was closed to the public. The ship was left in place as an artificial reef for marine life.
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Reference: The Mercury News, KSBW
