# Pretty Awesome OLD Boat!



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 3, 2014)

Went out to the "Equipment Graveyard" outside of the nearest bigger town in my area. Old guy collected heavy machinery and various other pieces of farm/construction equipment. First time going out there, an old truck caught my eye and that's why I wanted to. And then I found this cool boat. Now, I'm in BFE Illinois. I highly doubt this would have ever been on the Mississippi? Maybe though? Anyways, it's awesome. Felt like a kid in a candy store!


----------



## Joefbs (Aug 3, 2014)

That's a great find! Kinda cool to think where this might have been in its prime.


----------



## tirediron (Aug 3, 2014)

Very cool - I can't even guess at the origins of that.


----------



## 123rfanna (Aug 3, 2014)

Nice one! Very clear contrast against the really blue cloudless sky! Did you edit this shot by any chance?


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 3, 2014)

I did. I'll get the non edited one for ya! I don't think I had to do much with it though. Maybe I did? Been a long weekend!

And I can't even wrap my head around where this thing came from! Was NOT expecting to see it among all of the backhoes, generators, tractors, etc, etc!


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 3, 2014)

Okay, here's the non edited version. If something could have been done different, PLEASE tell me so! Very open to C&C!


----------



## Joefbs (Aug 3, 2014)

mrs.hankIII said:


> I did. I'll get the non edited one for ya! I don't think I had to do much with it though. Maybe I did? Been a long weekend!
> 
> And I can't even wrap my head around where this thing came from! Was NOT expecting to see it among all of the backhoes, generators, tractors, etc, etc!




You never know what you could come across huh?


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 3, 2014)

And I have no clue what the man junk shaped yellow thing is. I made it go bye bye.


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 3, 2014)

I'm certainly going back there! So many cool things! Found the biggest generator I had EVER seen, and I came from a HUGE farm family so I've seen some rather large generators. I took a ton of shots of it just to show the hubby and he was pretty impressed.

And just because, here's the truck that pulled me in in the first place. Not impressed with this one.


----------



## Joefbs (Aug 3, 2014)

mrs.hankIII said:


> And I have no clue what the man junk shaped yellow thing is. I made it go bye bye.



Hmmmmmm


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 3, 2014)

I neutered it. That sounds better, haha!


----------



## Joefbs (Aug 3, 2014)

mrs.hankIII said:


> I neutered it. That sounds better, haha!



I think castrated is a little more appropriate


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 3, 2014)

That poor little yellow man junk shaped thing. I really can't figure out what it is, either. I didn't even notice it until I pulled it up on my laptop then thought "WTF are you?" It wasn't something on my lens, because it only appeared in the truck pictures. It's clearly not something concrete that you could touch, because I would have noticed it in person and it just doesn't...appear...right. So if someone could tell me how that happened, or what it is? Would appreciate it.


----------



## Trever1t (Aug 3, 2014)

I would guess that small vessel some sort of river tug. Looks like it was mostly engine. Steel construction for strength. I betcha it pulled barges.


----------



## tirediron (Aug 3, 2014)

Trever1t said:


> I would guess that small vessel some sort of river tug. Looks like it was mostly engine. Steel construction for strength. I betcha it pulled barges.


There's no mast, so unless it's been chopped off, it wouldn't have been a tow-boat, and with the poor visibility (and no clear-view screens) from the round scuttles, it seems even less likely.


----------



## Trever1t (Aug 3, 2014)

Granted I know little about river boats having spent my entire life on the ocean, but I am a USCG licensed ship's master (ret) and I've never seen anything like that used for pleasure.


----------



## tirediron (Aug 3, 2014)

Trever1t said:


> Granted I know little about river boats having spent my entire life on the ocean, but I am a USCG licensed ship's master (ret) and I've never seen anything like that used for pleasure.


Nor I.  It looks vaguely like the sort of thing they use for putting log booms together here on the coast; maybe a net-tender for a commercial drift-netter?


----------



## pgriz (Aug 4, 2014)

It was the prototype for what became the "Yellow Submarine".

But if form follows function...  there was probably a lot more we can't see on top which was removed.  That little chimney looks like a retrofit, not original equipment.  And of course, seeing the stern would or "should" give us a better clue what this boat did for a living.


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 4, 2014)

I don't know. It's a little boat, not very big at all. Unless barges were A LOT smaller back then?


----------



## paigew (Aug 4, 2014)

Pretty cool. Did you go inside? [emoji12]


----------



## Designer (Aug 4, 2014)

I think the boat is a lifeboat.  The owner probably bought it for scrap and just never cut it up.


----------



## Wizard1500 (Aug 4, 2014)

Designer said:


> I think the boat is a lifeboat.  The owner probably bought it for scrap and just never cut it up.



Too much superstructure to be a lifeboat....that would really cut down on the number of people it could carry.  I'm no expert, but I think it's a small tug or towing vessel, but is missing another level of the superstructure......would really like to see fantail.....


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 4, 2014)

I'll be heading out that way tomorrow at some point and will try to get more pictures. All I got was the other side of it.

Owner rarely cut up or scrapped anything. He liked keeping massive amounts of old equipment where the town board could easily see it, since there wasn't anything they could do about it. He liked ticking people off. He died maybe 5 years ago or so. His wife took everything of value, and put it out on this lot and dubbed it the "Henderson Museum" or as we like to call it, the "Equipment Graveyard." She scrapped everything else that wasn't worth anything. She had someone come appraise everything so if this is still there? It's worth something, I would imagine.

Nope, didn't go in it. I stepped up onto the deck, but didn't go down into it. Floor is kind of scary in there!


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 4, 2014)

Not that it helps any, but here's the other side. You can see the shape of the deck, sort of.


----------



## tirediron (Aug 4, 2014)

Okay, so we know there's no missing superstructure since we can see the nav light placement.  The ventilator doesn't really seem to fit, nor does the stove stack.  There's also provision for what must have been a very small anchor.  I wonder if this might not be a home-built super-structure on a re-purposed hull?  We definitely need more pictures, and if you can get a few interior shots, bonus!!


----------



## petrochemist (Aug 4, 2014)

mrs.hankIII said:


> That poor little yellow man junk shaped thing. I really can't figure out what it is, either. I didn't even notice it until I pulled it up on my laptop then thought "WTF are you?" It wasn't something on my lens, because it only appeared in the truck pictures. It's clearly not something concrete that you could touch, because I would have noticed it in person and it just doesn't...appear...right. So if someone could tell me how that happened, or what it is? Would appreciate it.




The yellow bit is 'a distraction' bye-bye is the best place for it.
Could it be it was a yellow flower blowing arount a bit? I know you said man made, but if you only saw it on the laptop...
I guess a bit of yellow plastic barrier tape is another possibility, in which case you could have managed to snap it as it went past on the wind.


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 4, 2014)

No idea what it was, and yes I suppose it could have been a buttercup since the place was littered with them. 

Man made? Very well could be! I'll do my best to get more shots here soon. Today is a no go, tomorrow I have to go that way to drop my son off before my 2nd job interview (with a HUGE company, fingers crossed!!) so I'll try to swing by either before or after!

One thing I have to ask, because it's sparked a mighty discussion on another forum. My horizon isn't straight. Horizon isn't straight because there's a massive gully behind this boat. One can see that's true if they follow the shadow line on the corn on the left hand side. That being said, is there something I could have done to make it more straight than the way I took it?


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 4, 2014)

And if I fall through that floor, get trapped, and miss my interview, you guys are in TROOUUBBLLEE! That would be a hard one to explain. "Well, we were discussing this boat that I took photos of, and they asked for more shots, so I climbed inside it..."


----------



## tirediron (Aug 4, 2014)

mrs.hankIII said:


> And if I fall through that floor, get trapped, and miss my interview, you guys are in TROOUUBBLLEE! That would be a hard one to explain. "Well, we were discussing this boat that I took photos of, and they asked for more shots, so I climbed inside it..."


One does have to suffer and sacrifice for one's art, doesn't one?  I mean really, let's prioritize here shall we?  What's more important some silly job that will allow you to do nothing more than pay bills, feed your family and take vacations, _*OR*_ possibly determine purpose a rusty, old, boat in a scrapyard that you photographed may have served.


----------



## Wizard1500 (Aug 4, 2014)

And please do get a shot of the fantail (back of the boat).....that could explain a lot concerning it's use.....

Looking at the last picture, notice has the fantail extends pretty far....maybe 40 or 50% of overall length.....if there is a capstan or a stout set of cleats, that would almost certainly be for towing.....or....maybe a shrimp boat.....


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 4, 2014)

Hope you guys aren't expecting some brilliant photographs. Snapshots, that's what you're getting haha.

Who needs a job anyways?!


----------



## tirediron (Aug 4, 2014)

mrs.hankIII said:


> Hope you guys aren't expecting some brilliant photographs. *Documentary photographs*, that's what you're getting haha.


FTFY



mrs.hankIII said:


> Who needs a job anyways?!


NOW you're talking!


----------



## petrochemist (Aug 4, 2014)

mrs.hankIII said:


> One thing I have to ask, because it's sparked a mighty discussion on another forum. My horizon isn't straight. Horizon isn't straight because there's a massive gully behind this boat. One can see that's true if they follow the shadow line on the corn on the left hand side. That being said, is there something I could have done to make it more straight than the way I took it?



Most photo editing packages have a straighten function, Which allows you to rotate the image as required (and will usually crop the image back to an even rectangle.


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 4, 2014)

Yes, I've made good use of that function many, many times. But is THIS photograph not straight? Because I'm seeing a hilly area in the horizon, which doesn't lead to straight horizons. But the rest of the shot? I'm not seeing it not straight, but I guess someone is which is leading to this question.


----------



## petrochemist (Aug 4, 2014)

It looks straight enough to me. I know horizontal horizons are very important to some people, even though few places are actually level. Water that's not level & not flowing certainly looks odd, but I don't always notice that in my shots. :blushing:

Looking at your shot the Horizons not horizontal, you have 2 choices, make it level anyway (even if it wasn't in real life) or ignore the moaners. Either would IMO be quite acceptable, I don't think it would look wrong if it was rotated to make it artificially horizontal (but I haven't tried it and might be wrong). You could also add something in the image to show the true level but I think that would be an unnecessary distraction so I'd rather you didn't. 

Good luck with the interview!


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 4, 2014)

I was leaning towards the person just being overly critical and moaning a bit. Can't make a naturally NOT straight horizon, straight.


----------



## petrochemist (Aug 4, 2014)

As long as your not planning something like a fish-tank in the foreground to show the true level!
:mrgreen::mrgreen:


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 4, 2014)

Nah. I was going to use a giant level. Hhaha, NOT.


----------



## 123rfanna (Aug 4, 2014)

mrs.hankIII said:


> Okay, here's the non edited version. If something could have been done different, PLEASE tell me so! Very open to C&C!



Ah now I see what you did there! You darken the rusty color of the boat! Call me crazy but I somehow prefer the non-edited version, seems more real and faded like how an old boat should be! Just an opinion=)


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 5, 2014)

Actually the darkened one is closer to the real color of the boat. I know, sounds crazy. But the sun was washing out quite a bit of color.

Turns out, a friend of mine used to play on this all the time as a little kid. He says, as far as he knows, it's just a pleasure boat from the 40's or 50's. He's planning on buying it if any talk of scrapping it comes up.


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 5, 2014)

No new pictures, sorry guys. Promise I'll get them within the week. Interview was long but went well, accepted an offer. Got  home. Had to build fence, weed eat, mow the yard, get shoes on the horse. Busy, busy day!


----------



## petrochemist (Aug 6, 2014)

mrs.hankIII said:


> Interview was long but went well, accepted an offer. !



Congratulations!


----------



## mrs.hankIII (Aug 6, 2014)

Thanks! New job means better lenses!


----------



## tirediron (Aug 6, 2014)

So now you can get the other boat pictures we need?


Oh yeah... congrats!


----------



## Mike Lamb (Aug 6, 2014)

Looks a little too shopped and super imposed.  Maybe a little more noise at the side.


----------

