The Glenesslin was a beautiful, speedy windjammer built in Liverpool in 1885 that had an illustrious 27 year career, but the demise of this vessel is shrouded in mystery. Historians simply have no idea why the ship ran straight into a cliff in the middle of a clear day (though just how clear that day was is in question, hence the fog bank in the animation). The captain had been drinking and the possibility of fraud was explored, but nothing was ever confirmed.

Looking back on the ship's history, we find charming little stories of daily life at sea, the colorful characters who served aboard her, and even look at the roots of the Cunard White Star Line's first commodore.

Not only do we explore this ship's story, recreating it in Unreal Engine 5, but I visit the wrecksite near Manzanita, at the base of Neakahnie Mountain, and look to see if anything remains of the ship, believed to be long gone.

This video almost didn't happen. I mention in the video that I drove from Southern Nevada that morning - a 16 hour drive and only got to the wrecksite 10 minutes before sunset. That day was my only opportunity to film this, since I had to get to Washington that night and couldn't return. If I didn't make it to the site in that narrow window of opportunity, this video wasn't going to happen.

A special thank you to the Columbia River Maritime Museum for opening their collections to me for this video and helping to preserve this story. It was great working with them for both this and the Peter Iredale video last year. I have more in the pipeline with them.