EVERETT, Wash. — For decades it has been little more than a hulking curiosity on the Everett waterfront.
The ship "Equator" dates back to 1888. It has sat in drydock on the Everett waterfront since the 1960s.
A few years ago its stern collapsed and the Port of Everett determined the ship's future had sunk.
It will soon be dismantled.
A team of archaeologists from Texas A&M University is currently measuring and recording every inch of the Equator. Their goal is to find out more about how ships were built and used in the 19th century.
"We know so much more about East Coast vessels than we do out west. This is a really great opportunity for us. We're thrilled we're here," said Katie Custer-Bojakowski, a nautical archaeologist at Texas A&M.
The 135-year-old, 80-foot-long ship was originally a schooner once chartered by "Treasure Island" author Robert Louis Stevenson.
It's believed he wrote his book, The Wrecker, while on board.
The ship was later converted to a tug boat that worked in Puget Sound until being scuttled along the Everett waterfront in 1956.
By 1967, a group later raised the Equator, planning to restore it, but it simply sat dilapidated and decaying for nearly 60 more years.
"Preservation is no longer an option," said Custer-Bojakowski
With its warped beams bulging and bowing, if the ship could make a sound it would probably groan.
The Equator is essentially a shipwreck on dry land.
But researchers say its current condition is actually a good thing.
"This is amazing information for us," said Custer-Bojakowski. "We can see the framing system. That's the backbone of the ship."
Because it's falling apart researchers can see the boat's bones and its guts.
They are taking such exacting care in their measurements that they say they would actually be able to build an exact replica of the ship.
Instead, it will be scrapped.
Parts of Equator will likely be used in public art projects.
Its sailing days are done but its history will live.
"Of course, wooden vessels weren't expected to live forever. So, we're at the point where we want to make sure her legacy lives on and her story can be told," said Port of Everett spokesperson Catherine Soper.
"It wasn't just a ship," added Custer-Bojakowski. "It was the people on board and the industries it was involved with."
Your last chance to see Equator in its current state is this Thursday, June 15.
The Port of Everett is holding an open house running from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.