Hello mighty readers! Do you like shipwreck stories. Check this one as told by me.

Heyho good people, on this post I'd like to bring something a little different, somewhat relevant historically, interesting and related to story telling.

If you haven't noticed I'm hugely interested in everything that comes from the sea; big adventures, wrecks, lighthouses and boats. It happens that, for my love for story-telling and misfortune of sailors, the coast of my state is called the SHIPS CEMETERY. There are almost 300 registered shipwreck from different centuries, Some can no longer be seen, others are slowly disappearing on the horizon to enter the pages of history. That's what we are going to talk today. Enjoy!

Picture by Arthur Oliveira - Click Image to Enlarge!

The so called ships cemetery in southern Brazil - my home land - hasn't got its name for no reason. From fishing boats to big ships, from old to new, from famous to unknown. Some of the wrecks have became tales studied by historians who look for precise facts and dates, however, you'll hear about those stories differently from the local fisher men.

One of the most famous ships doesn't involve a somewhat conspiratory piracy story like the Prince of Wales from 1861; nor it sailed during the romantic era of sailboats. We are talking here about the Altair, one of the touristic attractions at the beach called Cassino - the largest beach in the world.

Altair in the 70's - The true source could not be identified

It was a cold winter when the Altair left the San Pedro port in Argentina carrying 2.8 tons of wheat destined to Natal, in Brazil. What once was a routine trip, became the capitain's nightmare, when the ship struggled to go through 6 meters high waves. The crew battled for three days against the storm, hatches were broken, engines swallowing water. They tried and tried... but couldn't win.

On June 7, 1976 the ship cemetery claimed another soul. After suffering on a great storm the Altair ran aground at the Cassino beach; a decision made by the captain in order to save his crew.

Photo by Arthur Oliveira

After 42 years, little remained of the old Altair, abandoned by its owner, the Libra shipping lines. The ship is now the habitat for many species; I remember, as a kid, collecting mussels that lived attached to the structure. Rust over the last three decades has already corroded much of Altair's structure, we can no longer walk on its deck and the masts are slowly disappearing from the far horizon.

After many years, it felt nostaugic to go back there to register these photos. We left the place wondering... How many years until it's completely gone?

Did you like this photo story? Does your place has any shipwreck? Share it on the comments, I'd love to hear.

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~Love ya all,

Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broke backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.