Maritime history buffs are excited by a shipwreck recently uncovered by erosion on the sandy shore near Cape Ray.
A huge intact portion of the hull of a wooden sailing ship suddenly showed up on the beach at Cheesman’s Cove—an area that saw the full fury of Hurricane Fiona just over a year ago.
Neil Burgess of the Shipwreck Preservation Society says the shipbuilding methods of the day, which are still evident, point to a construction date in the 1800s.
He says the planking of the hull appears to be attached with trunnels, or wooden dowls or pegs hammered into the planks, as well as copper pegs which were used as fasteners.
While enthusiasts are speculating about the possible name of the ship, getting a definitive identification on the wreck might be harder than many think. Recent drone footage provide a perspecitve on the massive size of the wreckage.
Photo Credit: Gordon Blackmore and Vanessa Hodder
Burgess says that area of coastline saw so many ships pass by, that it became a “magnet for shipwrecks when the weather got bad.”
“There’s no shortage of possibilities in terms of shipwrecks that occurred down there,” says Burgess. Adding to the difficulty in identifying the ship is the fact that the wreckage washed ashore is just a fragment. They don’t have enough to determine the full size of the vessel, which might help narrow down the possibilities.
In the meantime, formal preservation may not be possible. Burgess expects that the same forces that helped preserve the wreck by burying it under the sand, will eventually cover what’s left over again.
The Department of Archaeology has been contacted. Burgess says the wreck is protected by legislation. He says tampering with, or taking “souvenirs” from an archeological site is against the law.
