Wrecking history of the Bahamas

Galleon Shoal

Galleon Shoal.jpg

Here is a place to check out.
 

Where I grew up on south andros was a hub of traditional island boat building....I would hang around all day when I was there. Watching the likes of Alfred bain, and Leroy banister at Lisbon creek do there thing with hand tools. Adz, ax,saw,chisel,etc.etc...one of them built the "Avenger"....a beautiful sail boat with a great legacy of boat building behind it. It was a champion in many island races and regattas, and at least 3 more hulls were laid down to carry that name over the years. They influenced my own boat building also
 

Last edited:
Blak bart said:
Where I grew up on south andros was a hub of traditional island boat building....I would hang around all day when I was there. Watching the likes of Alfred bain, and Leroy banister at Lisbon creek do there thing with hand tools. Adz, ax,saw,chisel,etc.etc...one of them built the "Avenger"....a beautiful sail boat with a great legacy of boat building behind it. It was a champion in many island races and regattas, and at least 3 more hulls were laid down to carry that name over the years. They influenced my own boat building also
Click to expand...

Are they still doing the island races and regattas? You had a fantastic place to grow up. Building boats the old traditional way was a great art. To join thousands of pieces of wood together to make a waterproof boat is no easy task. It took thousands of years to perfect that art, and now it is gone. What does this place look like today?
I am so grateful for your help. To find a person with all that knowledge and willingness to help is like winning at lottery. And on top of that you are a boatbuilder too. We need to talk about our boatbuilding experiences one day.
 

Blak bart said:
Pinder, albury,Russell, moxy, roll, bastion....to name just a few. Those family names are also wrecking names in the keys to a lesser extent. The keys had newenglenders and other Yankee families move down to take up wrecking also. Names like pent, baker, houseman, and others that I can't remember without opening a book at the moment. Wrecking courts in Florida and ports of entry would have been key west and st.augustine. the colonies in the Carolinas accepted goods from the bahamas also, and trade would have spread to the north also in these goods as they were broken up and sold and resold up and down the eastern seaboard. Many records exist and are very interesting reading. Start your information gathering in key west and Nassau....Charleston SC.. and st.augustine fl. Should have interesting sources of info in the public libraries and court records also !! That book i posted from the pineapple press is a must have for anyone interested in the early wrecking history. Keywest became one of the richest communities for a while from its wrecking industry, and boasted the highest per capita earnings for its residents than anywhere else in the US at one point. All those riches were earned by wrecking !! Many lives were saved, and many fortunes lost and gained in those days. One of the coolest stories is of the Isaac allerton....still being salvaged by family members and relatives of the original salvors in possession from the 1800s !! An incredible story with many artifacts housed in the shipwreck museum in keywest.....its a great place and is adjacent to the atocha museum. If your serious about writing a book you'll be here sooner or later....all the info you seek is here in keywest !! Many of the vessels are highlighted in the book I posted, and I can remember some vessel names like Texas, Florida, mary, and there are many others that are detailed that elude me at the moment....there tonnage and designs, there records and sailing details are discussed as well. A few builders are also mentioned along with the native woods that were used !! All interesting to someone on a quest for information like yours. Hope that helps some....the book you want to write may already exist in the book I posted !!
Click to expand...

Thank you for all this interesting information. I got the book and have started reading it. Lots of very interesting stuff. It will take some time to read, digest and understand. Like this, your post. So much information. So many leads to follow up.
Yes, it would seem everything about wrecking has been written already. But I see it differently. To me it seems that the "wrecking story" has been looked at, from mostly one angle only. About like the pirate story. In recent times several researchers have been looking at the pirate story from different angles and discovered or uncovered a hidden part that is just as interesting.
 

Blak bart said:
Pinder, albury,Russell, moxy, roll, bastion....to name just a few. Those family names are also wrecking names in the keys to a lesser extent. The keys had newenglenders and other Yankee families move down to take up wrecking also. Names like pent, baker, houseman, and others that I can't remember without opening a book at the moment. Wrecking courts in Florida and ports of entry would have been key west and st.augustine. the colonies in the Carolinas accepted goods from the bahamas also, and trade would have spread to the north also in these goods as they were broken up and sold and resold up and down the eastern seaboard. Many records exist and are very interesting reading. Start your information gathering in key west and Nassau....Charleston SC.. and st.augustine fl. Should have interesting sources of info in the public libraries and court records also !! That book i posted from the pineapple press is a must have for anyone interested in the early wrecking history. Keywest became one of the richest communities for a while from its wrecking industry, and boasted the highest per capita earnings for its residents than anywhere else in the US at one point. All those riches were earned by wrecking !! Many lives were saved, and many fortunes lost and gained in those days. One of the coolest stories is of the Isaac allerton....still being salvaged by family members and relatives of the original salvors in possession from the 1800s !! An incredible story with many artifacts housed in the shipwreck museum in keywest.....its a great place and is adjacent to the atocha museum. If your serious about writing a book you'll be here sooner or later....all the info you seek is here in keywest !! Many of the vessels are highlighted in the book I posted, and I can remember some vessel names like Texas, Florida, mary, and there are many others that are detailed that elude me at the moment....there tonnage and designs, there records and sailing details are discussed as well. A few builders are also mentioned along with the native woods that were used !! All interesting to someone on a quest for information like yours. Hope that helps some....the book you want to write may already exist in the book I posted !!
Click to expand...

Pinder, Albury, Russell, they are still in the upper Keys to this day!
 

WRECKING said:
Interesting thread. So it seems the 1765 "rich Galleon" has never been found in modern days. Is the shipwreck real? Or is it a "Ghost Story"? I guess this is the first thing to define.
Click to expand...

If its there only a magnetometer is gonna find it...have gone that way and looked from the tower and never seen as much as a smear in the sand....just clean white sand for miles around. I have seen some other small wrecks here and there but never got in on them....almost every time we are trying to get somewhere and have little time to check. Did take a mark last trip on what looked like a small wreck a few miles north of where its supposed to be. To be certain there are many wrecks up and down the edge of the bank from orange cay north to Bimini....some of which are spanish. Marx and others found treasure bearing wrecks all up and down the edge of the bank !!
 

I talk to the spanish wells lobster divers and all of them have interesting tales of wrecks they think are valuable....they make discoveries now and then...but again...they are working and have condos to dive for pay....crawfish....orange gold !!

They fish the bank all the way down to key lobos !!
 

Last edited:
sphillips said:
Pinder, Albury, Russell, they are still in the upper Keys to this day!
Click to expand...

Yup...as you know from living here Steve, they make up a lage part of the community still to this day. I've never been more proud of our wrecking heritage....if an inuit can spear an endangered narwhale because it is part of there cultural heritage....well then....a native born islander...known as conchs...such as myself, should be able to practice the traditional occupation of wrecking like my forefathers before me !! Otherwise they are violating my cultural rights and heritage. When the state and federal government are sued by conchs like me for violation and discrimination of our cultural heritage.....then and only then will the ever elusive recovery permit be issued !! This is the angle I believe that will when court cases for us as salvors......this is where it all started...WRECKING/TREASUREHUNTING IS MY GOD GIVEN RIGHT AS IT ALWAYS WAS BEFORE !! Its the island way of life !!
 

Blak bart said:
I talk to the spanish wells lobster divers and all of them have interesting tales of wrecks they think are valuable....they make discoveries now and then...but again...they are working and have condos to dive for pay....crawfish....orange gold !!

They fish the bank all the way down to key lobos !!
Click to expand...

Spanish wells lobster divers are excellent sources of information. I remember talking with them in '81. They called the ballast piles "pebbles" and the cannon "tubes". ​I had difficulties understanding their accent.
 

Yup....direct decendants of the elutherin adventurers and the sayle wreck....they came down from bermuda....some were pirates and there decendants are still there !! They have shown me some real nice pebble piles....only a couple were the right pebbles....I like the big beige spanish pebbles !!:laughing7::laughing7:
 

Blak bart said:
If its there only a magnetometer is gonna find it...have gone that way and looked from the tower and never seen as much as a smear in the sand....just clean white sand for miles around. I have seen some other small wrecks here and there but never got in on them....almost every time we are trying to get somewhere and have little time to check. Did take a mark last trip on what looked like a small wreck a few miles north of where its supposed to be. To be certain there are many wrecks up and down the edge of the bank from orange cay north to Bimini....some of which are spanish. Marx and others found treasure bearing wrecks all up and down the edge of the bank !!
Click to expand...

Hurricanes often shift several feet of sand over large stretches of the bank. I would not be surprised if one day somebody stumbles on the wreck by accident. But, what wreck is it? That is the first question to solve. The next one is to make a proper business plan for the excavation.
I believe the times where a return of a penny for every dollar invested, is acceptable, are over.
 

My favorite island saying....THE ISLAND PROVIDES...and it does...the island has a solution to most problems, and in the end things work out somehow and someone helps with a solution.
 

50FE099D4E8743E69A0BC1A71F49070C.jpg
Leroy banister at Lisbon creek....I was blessed to be able to watch the bahamian masters at there craft. The old wrecking boats would have been built in a similar fashion by similar men....an island way of life...an island state of mind !!
 

Get hold of the Capitol Law Group in DC. They take cases like the cultural one you mentioned with enthusiasm. It is owned by the guy I mentioned to you who let me keep the first coin I found......I can give you his phone number....
 

Screenshot_20210530-114902_Gmail.jpg
Leroy banister, traditional bahamian boat builder.
One of the last in a long tradition of South andros boat building. He would spank me like one of his own...and that was ok...the whole island takes care of the kids. He also taught me how to skin a conch, and fish with a hand line. I took note of his soft touch with an adz....gently putting the finishing touches on a keel timber !!
 

SADS 669 said:
Get hold of the Capitol Law Group in DC. They take cases like the cultural one you mentioned with enthusiasm. It is owned by the guy I mentioned to you who let me keep the first coin I found......I can give you his phone number....
Click to expand...

I would think it would be pretty easy to prove in today's day and age....but who knows its crazy times we live in. Send me his number in an email please kevin.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Submarine 'HMS Urge' identified, quashing conspiracy theories of sub's secret mission

⬅️ Previous Thread

GQ

Next Thread ➡️

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Metal Detecting Stuff

Latest Discussions

Back
Top