The Story of the Cement Ship

Every beach seems to have its own calling card. For this beach it is a cement boat at the end of the local fishing pier. Is the beach called Rio Del Mar State Beach, or Seacliff State Beach? I don't know, but it is the only beach around here with a partially sunken cement ship. This stretch of beach is tucked away in Aptos, California, just off Highway 1, five miles south of Santa Cruz. We have always called it Rio Del Mar Beach, and there is a sign on the beach stating so. But, when I was looking on the Internet for info about “the beach with the cement boat”, I kept seeing that the beach was called “Seacliff State Beach”. I’m sure if I asked a local resident, I could get the name straight, but, until then, here are photos of the fun beach I am talking about!

Above: This photo shows the outline of the cement boat tethered to the end of the pier.

Below: Photos of the beach.

Above a squadron of pelicans crossing the sky.

Back to the beach's calling card. The most famous resident of this beach is the decaying ghostlike concrete ship sitting on the ocean floor at the end of the pier. This ship is what most tourist come for, even though there is not much left to see. The SS Palo Alto, as the boat is named, is one of only three cement ships that were constructed during World War I. As the story goes, the ship was built at the Oakland shipyard in 1918 as a World War I tanker. Apparently a Norwegian civil engineer named Fougner thought of using concrete to construct ships since the wartime had created steel shortages. The war ended before the ship ever saw service . At that point she was sold to the Cal-Nevada Company, and towed in 1929 to Seacliff State Beach. Once in place at the beach, her sea cocks were opened, and the Palo Alto sat down permanently on the ocean floor. The plans were to make her an amusement and fishing ship. A pier was constructed to connect the beach to the concrete boat. A casino, dance hall, café, heated swimming pool, and arcades were constructed inside this one time military boat. Unfortunately after operating only two seasons in the early 1930’s, the Great Depression hit and the owners went bankrupt. The Palo Alto was then stripped and left abandoned – now only birds, beach goers, and photogs enjoy this eternally docked grey glimpse of history. The pier is now used for fishing, but the ship is permanently closed to the public.

Above: Looking onto the deck of the concrete ship.

All of the remaining photos below: Residents of the concrete ship.

Above: I could imagine the concrete being toasty warm on a day like today.

For more information about this state beach, go to:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=543