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One of the members of Palmer Team 77 just noted that this venerable Antarctic research vessel was no longer moored off Newport, Oregon. The last sighting report we had was over a year ago, http://www.palmerstation.com/hero/newport2.html#08.
… A friend from Palmer called (Victor Bravo, Medic in ’77). He and his wife were trying to find the R/V Hero and found
that it moved from where it was in Oregon. They tried several locations, and each time were told, “you should have been
here last year …” Any clues?Since I knew most of these Palmer folks from my first winter at Pole, I was invited as a guest to their reunion in September 2006 in Newport. The event was typical for 1977 reunions, it had 100% attendance. We had a BBQ on the dock next to the HERO and of course tours, but no one opted to sleep aboard.
Anyone been up or down the Oregon coast lately and seen this historic vessel?
Over the past couple of days I’ve done a fairly exhaustive search on the web for any trace… Nada. It seems to have vanished.
Glenn,
Any chance of figuring out who was the last owner and checking with them as to what happened to the ship. It sure would be sad if the HERO just went away.
BT
I searched for sales and registration records but couldn’t find anything. Also looked for real-time ship tracking data; didn’t find anything.
A bunch of years ago I met the salvage guy who bought it from Reedsport at auction. He gave me a tour of the boat but subsequently sold it to someone else shortly thereafter. If I can find him again perhaps he knows something…
I just left a message with Bruce Norris (the salvage company owner) asking if he knows anything about the Hero. I’m not even sure if he’s still at that same phone number, the answering machine didn’t give a clue, but figured it was worth a shot. Keep yer fingers crossed…
I called the Newport Marina, they said the owner used to be Bill Wechter. That jives with some other info on the web. I tried calling Bill at the number they gave me but there was no answer.
The person I talked with in Newport also said she thought the Hero might now belong to the Sea Scouts (!) but I haven’t been able to confirm this. I think that would be very cool. She also said it might now be in Washington state; again, just a rumor.
Boy I hope the Sea Scouts have plenty of money! You know the olf saying, A boat/ship is a hole in the water in which you pour money.
And boy have I Been There and Done That!
BT
I’ve tried to contact Bill Wechter with old phone numbers and email and haven’t any luck yet. He was the owner when we had our reunion, he’d had big plans for the Hero when he bought it but he was a fisherman (with his own boat) and a couple of other businesses and didn’t really have time for the Hero…
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