Urban explorers have uncovered all kinds of fascinating finds this year, including an abandoned international airport in Greece and a stash of hidden Volkswagens in the side of a mountain. Now, an aquatic explorer has headed to Staten Island’s ship graveyard to get up close and personal with some of the vessels rusting away off the east coast of the U.S.
YouTube channel Two Feet Outdoors has built its profile exploring places off the beaten track, including kayak camping trips in upstate New York and adventures on a deserted island. Now, the channel and its host Matt have headed to New Jersey to board a kayak and explore a pile of rusting ships off the coast of Staten Island. Sounds like fun.
In one of the channel’s latest uploads, the team starts the day at Carteret Waterfront Park in New Jersey before heading out into Arther Kill, the narrow stretch of water that separates NJ from Staten Island. Once on the water, the explorer makes a beeline for the boat graveyard that you can find on the western banks of the island.
It’s not long before the first rusting hull of a ship appears in the distance and soon after, the dilapidated frames of boats start popping out the water left, right and center. It’s an eerie site to behold, with the YouTube host navigating rusting hulls and pontoons as he delves deeper into the boat graveyard.
While the scrapyard has been on the banks of Staten Island for more than 90 years, the ship graveyard has had the official name of the Donjon Iron and Metal Scrap Processing Facility since 2014. It’s primarily used to strip down old ships so that essential components can be sold on or recycled once they’ve reached the end of their usable life.
Ships of all kinds have been sent to the salvage yard since its founding, but it’s mostly used to strip down old tug boats and cargo ships that serve the local area. Two Feet Outdoors gets up close to some of the ships, even offering a view inside one of the vessels that’s been stripped back to its bare bones.
It’s a fascinating chance to get up close with some of the forgotten vehicles that would have helped the world get around in the 20th century and makes for a pretty calming watch for anyone struggling to get back into the swing of things after the holiday weekend.
The whole film is linked above for you to watch, and if you like this kind of thing we have a few other great urban explorers to check out. Right here you’ll find a deep dive into some of the spookiest abandoned airports around the world, while you can take a peek inside an old soviet aircraft carrier here.