What ever happened to the real "love boat"?

[B00Mer]

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE REAL "LOVE BOAT"?

THE REAL SHIP DIDN'T HAVE CAPTAIN STUBING, HOWEVER.

Even if you have never watched the The Love Boat (if so, what is your excuse?) you know the show takes place on a ship. The iconic vessel is displayed prominently in the opening credits, serving as a backdrop to the frenzy of guest stars that appeared on the program each week.

Certainly, the vessel featured on The Love Boat was a real ship. But what is its backstory? And where is it today?

The first ship was built in 1971 for Flagship Cruises for about $25 million and named Sea Venture. For the first four years in service, the ship went back and forth between the United States and Bermuda. It was named after the original Sea Venture, which sunk in 1609. Its survivors were the first people to settle the island.

In 1975, Princess Cruises took over the ship and named it Pacific Princess. The next year, the company allowed camera crews to film it for the upcoming television movie, which eventually turned into the series we know and love today. Although a few ships were featured on the Love Boat, the Pacific Princess became to represent the popular show.

Since the 1970s, the ship sailed around the world for almost four decades. In the late 1990s, the BBC reported the Pacific Princess had become a hot spot for drug smugglers in the Mediterranean Sea.

By 2010, the ship had become too old and costly to renovate. When the owners couldn't sell it, the decided to sell it for scrap in 2012 to a Turkish company for about $3 million. It was taken to Turkey the following year, where two men died of carbon monoxide poisoning while trying to dismantle parts of the ship.

Although parts of the Pacific Princess' backstory are tragic, it's fitting that the boat featured on The Love Boat has such an intriguing past.

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[Murphy]

Yes, that's a sad ending to something that was started by an old friend. The Love Boat was actually inspired by an old boat that sailed up and down the Mississippi called...

Lard Boat!
copyright 2006 – Murphy

- with apologies to Neil Young - but he inspired it all!

"Lard boat! Lard boat's a comin'!"

Lord, how I miss my yesterdays living on the Mississippi. Every week you’d hear a steam whistle off in the distance, someone would yell those words and you knew that everyone was in for a treat. The smell of freshly rendered pork products floated up and down the river. No matter how tough things got, you could always count on the lard boat. Times were simpler then for sure.

My most vivid memory happened just after Daddy had passed away and my big brother John was in the mountains hunting. He was trying to feed a hungry group of kids and our ailing mama. Actually, it was good to see him go because John drank too much when he hung around the house. Our oldest sister Emmy Loo drowned in the river earlier that year and he’d been pitifully sad ever since. I think that’s what made mama sick too.

Anyway, I could see the lard boat coming closer and closer to our stop. With John away, that left me in charge. I ran into the house, grabbed Daddy's old gun and sang out to mama,

"Look out, Mama, there's a lard boat comin' down the river,
And it's full of bacon, and a flag, and a man on the rail..."

All the barnyard animals got skittish. When they heard the lard boat's steam whistle they knew that one of them was going to die. Usually it was a pig, but Daddy would shoot old cows too. That day, it was my turn to pick. I just turned twenty-two; I was wonderin' what to do. And the closer the lard boat got, the more those feelings grew...

I could see the pig pen from the front porch of the house and singled out an old sow that had seen better days. I remember thinking that her fat would taste choice after rendering it down and straining out the chunks. It was the cycle of life. A fellow could live without schooling, but you always needed to eat!
I remember that Daddy's rifle in my hand sure felt reassuring. But as I walked into the barn, an unexpected shot hit the door. The pigs were ready and started shooting to try and scare me off. All that did was get me angry! "Sorry Porky, that don't work!" And I raised the rifle to my eye. I never stopped to wonder why. The pig saw black and his face splashed into the sky.

After that, it was easy because the animals ran for cover. I just grabbed old Porky’s leg and dragged her butt towards the water. I remember thinking that she must have weighed close to three hundred pounds. When the captain saw that fat, old carcass on the dock, he smiled. He started sounding the steam whistle and screamed,

"Lard boat! Lard boat's a comin"!