Pesuta wreck

[Manfred M]

The fate of many old schooners in the age of steam was that they were converted to cargo carrying barges that were towed by steam powered tugs. This is what happend to the Pesuta; she was used to carry logs to the mills. The Pesuta was under tow by the tug Imbrecaria in December 1928, when she was hit by a gale. Thr force of the wind and the waves snapped the towing cable and the barge ran aground on the east coast Graham Island, north of the Tlell River; part of the Haida Gwaii islands, in north-western British Columbia, Canada. The pounding waves off the Hecate Strait will ensure that this wreck disappears over time.

It takes four to five hours to do the round trip trek to the wreck. One has to study the tide tables before setting out and time the trek to occur during low tide, as much the area on the trek, including parts of the wreck itself, is cover by water during high tide.

This image is a composite B&W and colour. The day we were there, was cloudy and overcast, and even the wreck was fairly monotone. The rusting nails holding the wreck together had stained much of the wood, and I felt that showing these colours added a bit of interest to the overall image. I masked out the ship, during the B&W conversion process and left it as a colour image, with the monotones of the weather wood, showing the rust stains.

[Sergio M.]

Manfred, a fascinating story about the Pesuta. I like the way you have combined the color and B&W. The story it tells I can't help but wonder about the people who have made their life off the sea and the vessels they rely and depend on. Makes you wonder how many will end up like this.

Serge

[Donald]

A very striking image, made, in my view, by the powerful composition. The shoreline and the treeline beautifully take us to and envelope the wreck. The view of water and the distant horizon connect the wreck and its habitat - the sea. The whole thing serves to convey, for me, a poignant message about the end to which this once seagoing vessel has come.

A very nice piece of work.

[arith]

This is an exceptional photo and I really like it I haven't done 10,000 photo's yet.

[Karm Redland]

Manfred, I like everything about this image: composition, its bit of color, your post processing, etc. Plus it conjured up in me stories about this wrecks history and the lives of people this ship touched.

Karm

[Manfred M]

As an avid scuba diver (about 450 dives to date), I've had a lot of opportunity to see some pretty stunning shipwrecks underwater. Living close to the St Lawrence River and the Great Lakes certainly means there are a lot of them to visit close to home. The cold fresh water means that they are quite well preserved.

On the other hand, seeing them on the surface is much more difficult, as the action of the wind and waves tends to destroy any that have been driven on shore, so getting to one as picturesque as this one was a real treat.

Up until around the 1930s, ships tended to be the most complex technology around. Explorers, commercial vessels and of course military vessels shaped so much of what the world is today, part of hence my interest in them.

[FrankMi]

A powerful image indeed, made more interesting by the story behind the image. Thank you for sharing both Manfred.

[Manfred M]

A powerful image indeed, made more interesting by the story behind the image. Thank you for sharing both Manfred.

Thanks Frank. I find that there is usually a story behind every image, and I have often wondered about the location, why the picture was taken, and information about the subject that would give the viewers some more insight into the subject matter.

I've taken to usually adding a bit of a description to my work, hoping that others might do the same.

[PhotoRob]

Real nice Manfred, and great detail on the subject and the effort that went into getting that image...

[jeeperman]

Very nice Manfred. I have admired many a shipwreck images and this ranks well. I have been searching for one to shoot myself, but round here things get removed fairly quick. I need to look harder now as this is an inspiring piece of work.

[monstermum]

Here she is February, 2016. Still hanging in there and not much different than 2012 (or whenever the original post photo was taken)