Owner has no plans to save boat that survived Camille and Katrina
Published 3:22 pm Tuesday, April 10, 2007
After standing for nearly four decades in the same spot, the SS Hurricane Camille’s future is unknown as the land it stands on is up for sale.
The 72-foot tugboat, originally named East Point, was pushed ashore in August 1969 on the property owned by Lucille Moody’s parents. The boat soon became a tourist attraction and the Moody’s bought it and changed the name.
The family had several holes cut in the hull so if another storm surge came through Gulfport, the boat would not float away. Another surge did hit the area during Hurricane Katrina.
Moody was a college student when Camille struck South Mississippi. Now in her 60s, she has no plans of reviving the vessel or the gift shop that accompanied it.
“I’m too old to start over,” she said. “We’re going to sell the property, and I don’t know what will happen to the boat.”
Though a price has not been set, a sales contract on the property will not include any requirements to save the SS Camille, she said.
“I’m not going to tear it down, but if someone buys the property and wants to remove it, then that will be up to them,” she said. “If I had a dollar for every time a tourist had their picture taken in front of the boat, I’d already be in the Riviera.”