1715 Shipwreck?
- Thread starter Marc
- Start date
kenb
Bronze Member
Saturday, September 01, 2007
A group of shipwreck hunters hopes a decades-old memory might lead them to something much older at Tiger Shores Beach: evidence of the Urca de Lima, one of about a dozen Spanish ships that sank during a hurricane in 1715.
Salvagers plan to start looking today for remnants of the wreck, and they're counting on former Palm City resident Dave Jordan to tell them where to excavate.
Urca de Lima
• The remains of what state historians believe is the Urca de Lima are protected in an underwater archaeological preserve near Pepper Park, in St. Lucie County, one of only nine such preserves in the state. The ship was part of a 1715 Spanish fleet wrecked by a hurricane.
• Salvor Doug Pope says research suggests the ship actually wrecked closer to the St. Lucie Inlet.
• If Pope finds evidence of the Urca de Lima near Tiger Shores beach in Martin County, it could prove historians were mistaken about the ship's wreck site. But it might also reveal that the 1715 fleet had more than the 11 ships historians thought it did.
Jordan said he saw cannons in about 15 feet of water while surfing as a teenager 29 years ago at Tiger Shores Beach, about a quarter-mile north of Stuart Beach.
"Every day, it's still very vivid in my mind," said Jordan, who now lives in Gainesville.
About five years ago, he shared the memory with Doug Pope, the founder and managing member of Amelia Research & Recovery, a salvage company based on Amelia Island.
Pope said Jordan's sighting makes sense: Correspondence from the time suggests the Urca de Lima went aground near the mouth of the St. Lucie River. That would make the current state-designated site near Fort Pierce too far north, Pope said.
"It's a pretty big deal," Pope said of the possibility they might find new evidence of the Urca de Lima and prove state historians wrong.
He thinks it's unlikely he'll find very much treasure: Records show the Urca de Lima was salvaged soon after the wreck. But Pope expects to find treasures of another kind: historically significant items such as daily utensils, muskets, pistols and swords.
He and his crew came to Tiger Shores in February to survey the ocean floor in a 320-acre area, but blustery weather and permit delays limited their progress.
This morning, Jordan, 44, will try to find the same spot he was three decades ago when he saw the cannons.
Because of shifting sands, Pope and his crew will use an excavator, a large metal contraption measuring about 9 feet by 4 feet that has propellers, which can blow away several feet of sand within 10 minutes.
The propellers can be slowed the deeper the excavator moves through the sand so as not to harm artifacts, Pope said.
The crew plans to work about two weeks in the area.
For Jordan, it's more than a chance to prove he wasn't just seeing things in the water 29 years ago.
"Now that historians have told me what the possibilities are - it's just overwhelming," Jordan said.
kenb
A group of shipwreck hunters hopes a decades-old memory might lead them to something much older at Tiger Shores Beach: evidence of the Urca de Lima, one of about a dozen Spanish ships that sank during a hurricane in 1715.
Salvagers plan to start looking today for remnants of the wreck, and they're counting on former Palm City resident Dave Jordan to tell them where to excavate.
Urca de Lima
• The remains of what state historians believe is the Urca de Lima are protected in an underwater archaeological preserve near Pepper Park, in St. Lucie County, one of only nine such preserves in the state. The ship was part of a 1715 Spanish fleet wrecked by a hurricane.
• Salvor Doug Pope says research suggests the ship actually wrecked closer to the St. Lucie Inlet.
• If Pope finds evidence of the Urca de Lima near Tiger Shores beach in Martin County, it could prove historians were mistaken about the ship's wreck site. But it might also reveal that the 1715 fleet had more than the 11 ships historians thought it did.
Jordan said he saw cannons in about 15 feet of water while surfing as a teenager 29 years ago at Tiger Shores Beach, about a quarter-mile north of Stuart Beach.
"Every day, it's still very vivid in my mind," said Jordan, who now lives in Gainesville.
About five years ago, he shared the memory with Doug Pope, the founder and managing member of Amelia Research & Recovery, a salvage company based on Amelia Island.
Pope said Jordan's sighting makes sense: Correspondence from the time suggests the Urca de Lima went aground near the mouth of the St. Lucie River. That would make the current state-designated site near Fort Pierce too far north, Pope said.
"It's a pretty big deal," Pope said of the possibility they might find new evidence of the Urca de Lima and prove state historians wrong.
He thinks it's unlikely he'll find very much treasure: Records show the Urca de Lima was salvaged soon after the wreck. But Pope expects to find treasures of another kind: historically significant items such as daily utensils, muskets, pistols and swords.
He and his crew came to Tiger Shores in February to survey the ocean floor in a 320-acre area, but blustery weather and permit delays limited their progress.
This morning, Jordan, 44, will try to find the same spot he was three decades ago when he saw the cannons.
Because of shifting sands, Pope and his crew will use an excavator, a large metal contraption measuring about 9 feet by 4 feet that has propellers, which can blow away several feet of sand within 10 minutes.
The propellers can be slowed the deeper the excavator moves through the sand so as not to harm artifacts, Pope said.
The crew plans to work about two weeks in the area.
For Jordan, it's more than a chance to prove he wasn't just seeing things in the water 29 years ago.
"Now that historians have told me what the possibilities are - it's just overwhelming," Jordan said.
kenb
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