This weekend’s storm brought massive waves to the California coast. One casualty on Saturday was the S.S. Palo Alto at the end of the pier at Seacliff State Beach in Aptos.
The exploding surf tore at the end of the cement vessel closest to the beach, breaking it off.
National Weather Service forecaster Drew Peterson told the Santa Cruz Sentinel 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.
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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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