This is why we're called the Treasure Coast

[janswizard]

Searchers zero-in on shipwreck from 1715
By Suzanne Wentley staff writer
September 25, 2003

STUART -- What started with a surfer's wipeout could lead to another Treasure Coast historical discovery -- a 1715 shipwreck off the Martin County coast.

To begin the discovery process, a four-story-high, 74-foot-long lift boat is scheduled to arrive today off Tiger Shores Beach, near Stuart Beach.

For the next week it will be about 200 yards off shore, surveying the underwater area as the final step toward receiving a state excavation permit, said Doug Pope, president of the Amelia Island-based Amelia Research and Recovery.

Pope, whose company has investigated potential shipwreck sites from Sebastian to Jupiter -- and most recently in Fort Pierce -- learned of the new site from a Stuart native who reported he thought he saw cannons underwater while surfing 25 years ago.

If the memory turns out to be accurate, Martin County historians say the shipwreck could be part of an 11-vessel Spanish fleet that wrecked in a hurricane in 1715.

So far, the ship from that fleet discovered farthest south was the Urca de Lima, found north of Fort Pierce's Pepper Beach Park, which now contains a state underwater archeological preserve around the wreck. Other ships from that fleet have been discovered in Indian River County.

"We know we're the Treasure Coast, but I'm not sure the community has a full understanding of what that means," said Robin Hicks-Connors, president of the Historical Society of Martin County.

"A ship of this historical significance -- 300 years old, right off our beaches -- is such an important part of our history, and we look forward to helping to preserve it," she said.

Some historians believe the shipwreck off Stuart could be part of the 1715 Spanish fleet because topographer Bernard Roman -- on a 1760 map -- identified the location of that wreck as between the Sebastian River and the "Bleech-yard."

Hicks-Connors said the "Bleech-yard," named for white sand hills, is located on Roman's map as being near the Tiger Shores site, and could refer to an area that now includes the estate of Frances Langford, who lives in Rio.

The research work started earlier this year, when David Jordan, a Stuart native now living in North Carolina, contacted Amelia Research and Recovery. Jordan told the company he'd like to put in his front yard one of the cannons he saw underwater while surfing 25 years ago.

In a written statement, Jordan detailed that he saw in October 1978, when he fell off his board while surfing after a major storm that likely moved the underwater sand bars.

"I hit the water with my eyes closed and assumed I would hit sand, but I opened my eyes and in picture perfect view was right on top a stack of cannons that seemed to be coming from the sand bar," he wrote.

If the company receives final state permits, which could be granted within a month, Pope said he'll use highly advanced technology to explore for the shipwreck.

After taking underwater photographs for the state Department of Environmental Protection, researchers will -- according to state permit standards -- use a vacuum-like machine to try to uncover the shipwreck.