SITE OF THE NEW CARISSA — The only thing sunny on the Titan Salvage barges are the attitudes of the guys working on removing the New Carissa.

The weather’s been downright lousy, but oftentimes, that’s hard for folks in town, just a few miles inland, to believe.

Unbelievably nice weather allowed salvors to torch, cut and move much of the wreck in June, July and part of August.

But since late August, the weather has been less than stellar. A lot less.

Sure, it’s nice not even four miles inland from the North Spit. The sun shines, the temperatures make it comfortable to walk around in shirtsleeves. A cold north wind may blow, but those who escape even farther inland can enjoy warm days and wear shorts and sandals.

In the surf off the North Spit, though, the weather is much more akin to what you’d find in the wintertime: high winds, big waves, cold and fog.

Welcome to the New Carissa’s ambiance — just another indication the ship isn’t giving up easily.

“The funny thing is, it’s terrible weather out there,” Titan Managing Director David Parrot said, “and it’s not in town. It’s paradise.”

The terrible weather is due to a thermal trough, which forms due to intense heating, usually in a valley. They are the same conditions that cause the valley to be so hot and dry, and foster dangerous wildfire conditions inland. This trough has been stuck off the coast of southern Oregon and northern California while a high-pressure system remains offshore.

Earlier this week, though, tempers were short and not so sunny on the Karlissa A and Karlissa B.

Salvage Master Shelby Harris was frustrated. After more than two days’ worth of work on the crankshaft, it wasn’t moving. A National Geographic film crew was on the barge, too, asking questions and doing its job of filming every detail of the salvage work. The waves were big, the wind was bad. It all added to Harris’ frustration.

But by Wednesday, Harris — and the crew — were back in good moods. So much so that they posed for a crew photo in front of the 170-ton top of the engine on the bow of the Karlissa B. Harris posed with a World War II rifle, complete with bayonet, in front of Titan’s “trophy” prize, the biggest piece removed so far.

The crew was all smiles.

“As down as the mood was when the crankshaft couldn’t be yanked, it was equally up when we got our group photo in front of the engine,” Parrot said Friday.

By Friday, though, the weather was bad again. Waves more than 8 feet high were slamming the wreck as salvors cut the stubborn crankshaft into three pieces — but they didn’t seem to mind.

The ocean was slate gray. Waves broke over the ship and sprayed them. Winds threatened to blow the hard hats off of crewmen and visitors who walked on the bridge between the Karlissa A and B barges.

Blowing fog wisped by as other crews tried to position one third of the engine being placed on the bow of the Karlissa B.

“We feel so ridiculous saying the weather’s bad,” Parrot said.

For now, the weather’s been so bad, salvors had to reposition the wreck.

The prop, formerly out of the water by about 12 feet, is buried in the sand again. The front part, nearer the beach, is pulled up several feet out of the sand so salvors can cut the engine into thirds.

Most of the waves and wind have been coming out of the northwest. They’d slam the wreck and, since the anchor chains were attached to the Karlissa A barge, also move the barge around.

That doesn’t happen as much any more.

The waves hit what Parrot described as mini bulkheads on the port side of the ship that’s raised out of the water.

“They exhaust themselves on the baffles,” he said.

The weather is far worse in terms of the sea state and the ocean conditions than he’s seen on many other salvage jobs, Parrot said, noting the persistent fog and strong winds. He’s seen 13-foot waves in the shallow conditions near the wreck site — and the New Carissa is stuck in only 18 feet of water.

At one time, the anemometer on the crane Big Red registered 50- knot winds, about 55 mph.

That would qualify as storm-force winds if it were the wintertime. On Friday, the National Weather Service recorded gusts of close to 30 mph at Cape Arago, just a few miles south of the Carissa.

“Fortunately, we have the tools to deal with that,” Parrot said.

Big Red can work in wind conditions up to 50 knots and the jack-up barges can withstand just about any wave that could hit the beach, Parrot said.

About 1,073 tons of wreck have been removed so far. Parrot estimates about another 400 to 500 tons remain. Now it gets tricky. Soon, what’s left of the whole ship will have to be lifted by the pullers. The wreck is so short now that salvors likely will use only three pullers, as opposed to the six used earlier, to lift out more metal.

“The time will come to lift it up,” Parrot said, “and cut it away in one complete go.”

Then he smiled. It was sort of a mischievous smile.

“That will be interesting,” he said.