Do fundo do mar... Sea bottom
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Shipwreck mystery uncovered on beach
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The Courier
March 25, 2007
The Courier
March 25, 2007
Have the shifting sands of Montrose beach revealed the other half of a 19th century shipwreck uncovered last year?
It was about this time last year that the bow section of a wooden boat, long buried beneath the sands, was exposed for a brief period by the movement of the tides at the north end of the beach.
Last week another wreck partially reappeared, around half a mile further along the beach.
“It is of similar construction to last year’s wreck and this time it is a stern section, with the rudder still clearly visible,” said local shipping historian John Aitken.
“Although many boats have foundered in Montrose Bay in high seas and there must be many wrecks under the sand, there is a possibility that this latest find, some distance away from last year’s, may be the opposite end of the same boat.”
Mr Aitken has contacted marine archaeologist Dr Colin Martin, who recorded last year’s wreck. He thought that was probably a coastal workhorse, small but heavily built, dated between 1850 and 1900.
Because this kind of boat was so ordinary and so many were built, the shipwrights did not think them important enough to keep details.
Finding a wreck such as this provided the only detailed information available.
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