Eleuthera, Bahamas?

[bottomdweller]

Anyone have any stories of Eleuthera or nearby islands, I'll be spending some time there this winter, recreational diving of course.

 

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[diverlynn]

Whhhoooo, I love that area! Beautiful. If you get a chance take a water taxi over to Harbor Island, far side of island has the most beautiful beaches.

I wanna go

Diverlynn

 

[Mackaydon]

BD:
Ten years ago +, we found and salvaged what I later ID-ed as the Brig Baltic, bound from NYC to Galveston, Tx. The location of that site is on the north side of the island. If you're in the area of Spanish Wells, ask the locals for directions.
Pics of some of the artifacts here: (http://historicsitesandshipwrecks.com/auction/index.asp).

The Brig "Baltic" was an American general merchant ship, a wooden two masted vessel with brigantine rig. Her weight was 281 tons. She was built in Camden, Maine in 1854. Her owner was William H. Hooper of Camden, Maine. On September 17th, 1866 she was headed for Galveston, Texas from Europe with a large cargo of porcelain, china, medical supplies and food stuffs. The great Bahamian hurricane of October 1st, 1866 caught the "Baltic", she floundered,sank and buried (after losing her cabin deck) only about 100 yards from the beach of Eleuthera, Bahamas.

We re-sanded in hundreds of bottles, pipes, ax handles, etc.--and the hull--though, through the years, many of these artifacts may have been uncovered.
Don.....

 

[Mackaydon]

Dell:
Don't believe the Nick story of discovery for a minute; except that he was the permit holder and, with another, created a museum with some of the artifacts from his share--those that you see in the pics. Some time ago, I also got wind of someone (Nick?) starting the idea of going back to the wreck (with investor money) to dig out the what we left behind.
BTW, I ID-ed the vessel by a timber floating in the water column( !!) that read: Brig Baltic--Galveston. Later research in the Nassau archives tied the timber to the site (insurance records).
Don.......
PS: The destruction from the storm was so complete that people were stranded on the islands for days; most of the boats had been demolished.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Mackaydon:

For the Baltic did you get a Vessel Information Report from the National Archives and Record Service? This would provide you with the Official Number, dimensions on record, and other registered details.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[Mackaydon]

Old Book:
I traced the ship through archived records back to the vessel's insurance company--that is still in existence. The insurance angle came about during the research. I found a notice printed in the Nassau paper written to the underwriters regarding this vessel loss, cargo, origination and destination (Galveston). The ins. co. gave me more pertinent information. In return, I sent then a cup and saucer from the vessel. Wedgewood (blue and white). The potter was Adams.
Don.....

 

[Mackaydon]

Here's a site with the many types of artifacts retrieved from the Baltic.
http://historicsitesandshipwrecks.com/museum/artifacts_site.asp?Site=1&Submit=Go&offset=9
I believe all these artifacts are from Nick's allocation.
The area was already leased to Nick before the discovery.
George M. was our 'process facilitator'.
Don.....

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Mackaydon:

From the US Coast Guard website:

National Archives and Records Administration: For information on shipwrecks, the National Archives maintains certain records and will make limited searches for documents, provided the inquirer furnishes the name of the ship and the date and place of the disaster. Contact NARA via email at [email protected].

It has been some time since I was in contact with the NARA, but if they would still be willing to provide you with their one-page Vessel Information Report (I believe that is the title) it could be interesting.

A note to others (and please accept my apologies if you already know these) - most of the agencies receive inquiries along the lines of "Please send me a list of treasure shipwrecks in this area..." Or other very general information requests that would tax the ability of a professional researcher. The key to getting the help you need is a very specific request providing as much information to identify the subject as you can.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[Mackaydon]

OldB:
Many thanks for the info; I'll follow up and see if they can add more.
Don.....

 

[SteveS]

I know Nick, and he is the one who found the wreck and obtained the lease! Nick did have an outside salvage company do the actuall salvage work on the site with their salvage vessel ESPERANZA, and the artifacts retrieved were split between Nick and the salvage group. Much of Nick's share was auctioned in Miami I believe in 1997 or 98. The wreck is about 200' off Ridley's Head on North Euleuthra, though buried under sand.

 

[Mackaydon]

Whose boat is the Esperanza? What was the name of the group that did the actual salvage?

 

[bottomdweller]

Thanks for the tips, sounds like if it's uncovered would be a great place to play around, any tales of ones that haven't been found yet?

 

[Skimmer]

Whose boat is the Esperanza? What was the name of the group that did the actual salvage?

Don- Esperanza (Hope) was Rob McClung's boat, at least in the early 90's...I was on it with him then.
Mike

 

[Mackaydon]

Skimmer:
If you can say, where were you working with Rob on the Esperanza in the '90s?
Don...

 

[theGOLD]

Im good friends with Nick. I just saw him last week actually and he brought along some of the old pics from the Baltic and other wrecks. I know exactly where that wreck is. I was up by it this past weekend but didn't dive it at all.
Nick should get some credit there. It was an amazing wreck because the hull was completely in tact. You could actually swim into the hold of the ship while she was still submerged in sand. In tact barrels, and other things within the hold. All sorts of lovely china, and figurines and things. Is that accurate Don? Great story though. Nick is a pretty interesting individual. Dell, I believe that was with Mosco as well. Or at least I know Mosco became involved in it in some way. I can ask him to find out for sure though.

-GOLD

 

[Mackaydon]

Gold:
George M. was our 'political liaison'.
Yes, the items you mentioned and many different ones were salvaged (pipes, ax handles, tall green pickle bottles, religious figurines, buggy wheels, beer bottles by the hundreds, a portable shoe repair device, etc. Many stories were created during that operation, including getting hit by 'pirates'; locals raiding the site.
It was Nick's story of two survivors (man and woman) from a wreck and a gold (?) watch found in the area that intrigued us to investigate. We stored the artifacts in an area controlled by Nick and Fiona until we could transport them all to the authorities in Nassau.

 

[theGOLD]

Yup thats what he told me too. Ha ha ha Political liason. Thats funny. Geez I wish the Bahamian government was capable of organizing a proper salvage program here. Its unbelievable how these officials simply can't process the idea that these shipwrecks are a RESOURCE... with a ticking timer. SO much potential, so little progressive thinking.... Unfortunate isn't it.

Im trying to think of other wrecks around that area you could check out dweller. Do you have a boat at your disposal?

-GOLD

 

[bottomdweller]

I do have a boat, I will be taking a sail cat down. I have spent some time through the bahamas, mainly Eleuthera, concepcion, and Nassau. I've never been on the southampton, always wanted to, maybe make that trip this time!

By the way, thanks to all for having me on the site, I've read along for awhile but just now jumped on. I am a 5th generation shrimper and commercial fisherman (with books and books of numbers I want to check out from NC to FL!) I started diving as a kid, some pretty interesting things were found from some of my dads snag numbers, and I decided why not explore them myself. Finally I am now getting some time to do so. I expect I'll be finding the gold in a few days, you just swim down and pick it up right!!!!!
But seriously, no big dreams, I just enjoy diving and the thrill of the possibility, maybe on day I can call on some of y'all to properly excavate and preserve the biggest find in history!!!

 

[Old Bookaroo]

bottomdweller:

May I suggest you start by buying and reading and re-reading and re-reading "The Homewrecker" - John S. Potter, Jr.'s classic book The Treasure Diver's Guide. Val Martin reprinted it in paperback several years ago, and copies are readily available for twenty bucks or less.

It's a shame it has not been updated, as the world of treasure salvage has changed so much since 1960. Including an amazing number of wrecks that have been found. Equipment has changed tremendously. And the law (UNESCO, The Abandoned Shipwreck Act, and the rest) as well.

There are a number of other, very good, books on the subject. Robert Weller's textbook on salvage, of course, and Bob Marx wrote a pretty good one on how to do it.

Potter remains the cornerstone work in my opinion.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo