The Broken Boat

You might wonder why I have a picture of a concrete boat attached to a pier at the top of this page.  This boat is the SS Palo Alto and is in a sleepy little coastal town in Central/ Northern California called Aptos.  

My uncle Bob lives in Aptos.  His home is about a 3 minute walk from the Boat.  My family was up visiting him this last June.  We passed it every morning on our walk along the boardwalk.  My son became fascinated with it, and has christened it the Broken Boat.  He asked for details about it which I simply didn't know, and so I turned to Bob for the history on it.

He said it was built during World War I in the shipyards in the Bay for the War.  It never saw any action, and ended up attached to the pier at Sea Cliff.  It was converted to a restaurant and nightclub, which was shut down because it became unsafe.  It is now a home for pigeons.  My kid had me repeat the story every time we came anywhere near it. 

The Broken Boat has lived three lives.  It failed as a warship either because of design, or timing, or both.  It had some success in the entertainment field, but that was short lived.  It is now permanently a home for pigeons and, as I've since learned, serves as artificial reef for marine life.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Palo_Alto

The Broken Boat is a story of the unexpected path that progress can sometimes take.