When natural sunlight is cast upon each ruin, the corrosion and decay of each vessel vibrantly comes alive, almost forcing you to ponder its life history, prior to its demise. In a strange visual irony, this graveyard is one that is best visited during the day. Each vessel in the graveyard is constantly exposed and yielding to the forces of nature. The fascination here is in the weathered dilapidation of rusty metal and rotting wood, transformed by salt water into intriguing and somewhat eerie maritime sculptures, each protruding from a watery grave. This paddle was a fascinating visual exploration in urban decay. The Rossville Boatyard in Staten Island, New York is a veritable graveyard of decommissioned, scrapped, and abandoned ships of various sizes, ages, and states of decay. Previously, when a ship had reached the end of its operational life, it would be brought out here to the highly industrialized Arthur Kill, sunk in shallow water of the Rossville Boatyard and left to rust away. Although the phrase 'graveyard of ships' has also been used to romanticize a particularly dangerous area of the sea where many vessels have met their demise, this is not the meaning that is referred to here. The 'graveyard' is the location where the vessels, or their remains, have been deliberately abandoned with the approval of all relevant authorities. If you decide to climb aboard, tread lightly and keep an eye out for stray rusty nails.A 'graveyard' for ships is an official dumping site for obsolete watercraft. Most of the ships that we were able to climb onto were rotted wooden structures, and probably not the safest things to walk on. However, the best way to view this place would be via a boat – it’s the only way you can get a close look at some of the vessels further out. During high tide you would most likely be stuck to shore viewing only. Even during low tide, we were continually sinking into the mud, praying we didn’t lose a boot (if we had sneakers on, they would’ve been goners without a doubt), and were not able to access some of the ships further out in the water. If you are trying to access this site by foot, you absolutely need to go during low tide. From there, the site opens up to the majestic tomb of war ships and tug boats. Beyond the graveyard was an easily accessible path – albeit filled with overgrown reeds, sea grass and questionable odors.

The marker that we had to look for was the tiny Sleight Family Graveyard (where some headstones date back to as early as the 1700s). The graveyard isn’t really noticeable from the road, and someone not privy to what lay behind that massive wall could easily pass by never knowing that it was there. He was known as an eccentric (shocking) and would keep a very close eye on his property, scaring off any unsolicited visitors himself.Ī view courtesy of Google Maps just before Hurrican Sandy hit, sinking several of the boats. Witte presided over the collection of decaying ships until the 1980s when he passed away. Either way, a collection of about 400 water vessels came to be. Witte, would just straight out refuse to dismantle a majority of the ships that came his way. I have also heard that the owner, John J.

Some say that it was because the company could not keep up with the incoming stock.

Slowly overtime, these unused ships began to amass. Since the 1930s, Witte’s would dredge, salvage, and resell materials from the wrecked and disused vessels of the New York and New Jersey waterways – the space originally being called the Witte Marine Shipyard. In the town of Rossville, NY lies the Witte Marine Equipment Company, which is adjacent to the Arthur Kill Waterway (kill is merely a dutch word for “creek” – not as creepy as it sounds). But, neither of us lost a boot (we saw some abandoned shoes scattered throughout the space), he didn’t contract tetanus despite scraping his head on a rusty nail, and he still seems to like me, so I call that a success.Ī ship graveyard is exactly what it sounds like – it’s a place where ships were sent to die. Although, this wasn’t always the original intent of the space. Wading through knee deep mud is romantic, right? I don’t think I’ve had so much mud caked on my body since playing high school soccer in the rain. It was a little rainy and I didn’t quite anticipate just how muddy it was actually going to be. When I first started to date my boyfriend, I decided by our fourth date it was appropriate to drag him to the Arthur Kill Ship Graveyard in Staten Island.

Staten island boat graveyard