SITE OF THE NEW CARISSA — The last of the New Carissa is out of the water, if only by about 5 feet.

Titan Salvage literally hung the last piece of the 1999 shipwreck out to dry Monday. That was after the crew cut and plucked two smaller pieces off in the afternoon. What is left is an approximately 45-by-80-foot slab of steel hanging from three chains. It weighs about 200 tons.

That was much less than what salvors started with in the morning. The crew had a long night Sunday re-rigging the wreck. They weren’t able to take any pieces off over the weekend. They thought they could take the whole thing out on Saturday, Salvage Superintendent Dave Grecho said, but to no avail.

That changed Monday.

First, they pulled up a small, shark-fin-shaped piece, swung it off the shipwreck and put it on the deck of salvage barge Karlissa B in the afternoon.

Next, salvors worked on a bigger piece and got soaked in the process. Roaring surf doused the guys cutting through steel. The biggest waves rocked the hallow shell of the stern.

A 40-ton maze of tangled pipe and steel bars came off in the late afternoon. As crane operator Jesse Harris found a place to put down the slab on the B, Titan’s pullers sparked to life.

Slowly the hydraulic pullers drew up the slack in the chains. This time the wreck yielded to the force. Clanking and popping with each link, the chains drew shorter. Waves pounded. The remnant swung wildly.

The relentless pull drew the top of the New Carissa near the deck of Titan’s other barge, Karlissa A.

The mood on the barges lightened. The guys were all smiles watching it come out of the water.

“What I like most about it,” said salvor Kenny Kruckenberg, watching from the stern of the Karlissa B, “is that every single (salvage) company I worked for or thought about working for said it was completely unsalvageable.”

Then he laughed.

“What’s ‘impossible’ mean?” he said.

Of all the salvage companies out there, Titan has given Kruckenberg a chance to become an even better-qualified diver.

“It’s been a real good learning experience for me,” he said, noting that he’s learned a lot from other crewmen Yuri Mayani, Mike Pacheco and Salvage Master Shelby Harris.

“They’re the best. Shelby is the best foreman I’ve ever worked for,” he said.

Soon, Harris, Pacheco, Grecho and other salvors speculated about the next move. There was room for the awkward- shaped piece on the Karlissa B, but could the crane heave it?

Harris opted not to find out just yet.

“It won’t come in one piece,” he said. “A piece like that is awkward to handle.”

Harris said he wanted to let the water drain overnight. He suspects there is some sand buried in the slab somewhere. Today the crew will inspect the inside, blast out sand and take off some small pieces to lighten the final bit of steel. Harris said the last section will weigh in at about 150 tons.

Titan still has to retrieve a few pieces under the water, but once the hanging piece is gone, nothing will be visible from shore.

Around 6:30 p.m. the crane engine shut off, signaling quitting time. The crew piled into the cable car for the three-minute trip back to shore.

Harris took a last glimpse of the wreck from the beach at the end of the day Monday. The sunset silhouetted the barges and the last dangling chunk of the New Carissa.

— Staff Writer Susan Chambers contributed to this story.