A Sunken Treasure Guide to Belize and Honduras

[Daryl Friesen]

Shipwrecks in Belize

Rocky Point: Three cannon and one anchor retrieved and on display in various hotels. One 151 anchor presently in about 20'to 25'of water, one cannon in about 121 of water. on the beach there are many broken bottles of circa 1750. A few small ballast rocks may be found on the beach. Several chisel headed bronze nails and drifts encrusted in the exposed rocks. Unverified reports indicate there may be a large ballast pile in 401 to 60' of water off the point. From Marx, 1971, "Before 1792. An English Chart dated 1792 states that some years earlier a Spanish galleon named "Santa Yaga was lost off the Three Brothers, which are several small keys off the northeastern tip of Ambergris Key"

Please come to the following link for much more
Daryl Friesen
Spindle Explorations
www.bc-alter.net/dfriesen/honmap.html

 

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[mariner]

Chris,

I happen to be up in British Columbia at the moment. There are many documented wrecks along this coast, and I have also heard a few unsubstantiated claims about possible treasure ships, but none that have any credibility. You make it sound as if there is a well known wreck up here, and I am intrigued. Do you have any other info you are able to share about it?

Mariner

 

[old man]

Daryl, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Honduras prohibit salvaging treasure in their waters??

 

[mariner]

Chris,

Thanks. Sounds like you might be referring to the Tonquin that was blown up in 1811, supposedly by the remaining crew members, after it got into a scrape with the Indians in Clayoquot Sound. The Tonquin was an important ship in terms of the history of the US, having brought the people who founded the first fort at Astoria, but it would have only been carrying trade goods like beads and chisels when it sank. People have been looking for the remains of the wreck for some time, and two years ago somebody found what they think might be one of its anchors. Follow up subsurface surveys have failed to yield any further evidence so far. Were you referring to the Tonquin, or is there another important wreck in that area that has not yet been located? I am researching a possible early wreck up near the northern tip of Vancouver Island, but don't have enough information yet to identify it, or to know for sure whether it exists.

I am intrigued about your reference to finding porcelain in the area. Were you able to estimate its age?

You are right about the water being so cold out here on the West Coast.

Mariner

 

[Mackaydon]

Old Man:
I'll jump in here and answer your Q.
Yes, in Honduras, treasure hunting is forbidden.
Don MacKay
R/V Explorer
Roatan

 

[old man]

Don,
Thanks for the confirmation. Good to hear from you again.

 

[Mackaydon]

Cornelius:
Daryl F. is one of the good guys. We're all in some sort of business. Whether someone wishes to contribute to this site and offer assistance, and requests us to their site for more information (part of which may be an introduction to the mans vocation); or one who just spouts off in this forum and is selling themselves, I really don't take offense either way. There's a positive lesson to be learned with each experience; and the opportunity to learn something about this hobby that grabs so many of us.
All the best,
Don......

 

[mariner]

Chris,

Thanks for the comments. I donot know about the more modern yacht sunk in that area. The problem with the Tonquin is that the only accounts come second hand from an Indian who was acting as interpreter/guide for the Tonquin,and contain what appear to be contradictory statements. Some believe that the whole incident took place further north, but I am pretty certain it was near what its now called Tonquiin Island.

However blue and white porcelain and a ballast pile sounds very interesting. I would be interested in any details you can send me in case they form part of a bigger jigsaw puzzle about the early exploration of the North West coast. I think that B.C.'s non-Native history goes a long way before Juan Perez and Captain Cook in the 1770s. It is almost certainly the case that Drake was along that part of the coast in 1579, and a map that illustrates de Fonte's supposedly mythical voyage in 1640 shows Vancouver Island and the areas immediately north and south of it in such detail that it cannot have just comeout of somebody's imagination. Then, as you say, there are ships from Japan and other parts of Asia that simply got caught in the Japanese drift that still washes Japanese fishing floats up on beaches from Oregon to Alaska.

I don't think we have met. I have seen you in the photos you have posted and would remember you. I am an engineer by profession, but with a long-standing interest in history and a more recent involvement in shipwrecks, which is a most fascinating area.

Mariner