Brig Helen Mar with $109,000 in specie, 1835

[Jolly Mon]

Savannah Republican May, 8th 1835



The Spanish "lavanderas" translates in English as "laundress" or "washerwoman"

 

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[Old Bookaroo]

I wonder if that shoal got the name because the wave action reminded someone of turbulent washing water?



The West Indies Pilot [1913]


Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo, CM

 

[Jolly Mon]

I wonder if that shoal got the name because the wave action reminded someone of turbulent washing water?

View attachment 1403268

The West Indies Pilot [1913]


Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo, CM

I had not thought about it, but you are probably correct about the origin of "washer-woman" as a name for a shoal.

There are East and West Washerwoman Shoal's in the Florida Keys as well.

Thanks for referencing the West Indies Pilot. Old sailing guides sometimes have boo-koos of valuable information. Just for instance, from the description of Cay Sal:





West Indies Pilot, 1913

 

[Darren in NC]

Interesting, JM. Thanks for sharing The difficulty in these news clips is that you never know if it has already been salvaged. That was an enormous sum in that day, and I have many wrecks from that time that were actually sought after by professional salvagers. This one would most definitely qualify. Sometimes the salvage gets reported later in the paper, sometimes not.

 

[ARC]

Welll...
Just to throw this is the "wash"... heh

"wave wash" is the erosive wave action on shores and embankments... Caused by the breaking of "lapping" waves.

 

[Jolly Mon]

Interesting, JM. Thanks for sharing The difficulty in these news clips is that you never know if it has already been salvaged. That was an enormous sum in that day, and I have many wrecks from that time that were actually sought after by professional salvagers. This one would most definitely qualify. Sometimes the salvage gets reported later in the paper, sometimes not.

Obviously much more research is needed for a serious attempt...but this one struck me as interesting for several reasons:

1. There was a LOT of coin aboard.
2. This wreck does not seem to be among the "usual suspects" listed in shipwreck books and treasure hunting magazines.
3. The clipping has significant enough detail to suggest the story is at least partially true.
4. Cay Sal is remote, but not too remote. Wikipedia says the Cay is uninhabited. One might spend a few afternoons diving without raising any suspicions whatsoever.
5. If the clipping is true, the wreck is in shallow water. The mention of Lavanderas Shoals and part of the crew being left on Cay Sal suggest the wreck may have occurred close to the Cay in the vicinity of the presently charted "Lavanderas Rocks". Incidentally, an old Spanish chart from 1854 has this same shoal charted.
6. E.K. Collins was a real heavyweight. The Collins' steamers were contracted to carry the United States Mail from Liverpool to New York. "E.K. Collins & Sons" were big time players in the New York City merchant trade for many years.

 

[Jolly Mon]

Apparently this was not Helen Mar's first trip from Tampico carrying a substantial load of specie, this one in 1834:

American Advocate of Internal Improvements 1834

 

[Blak bart]

There is talk of a trip to caysal on the backside of my current one to fish. Well see!!!! We would stay for three days on our way home that way we would already be cleared through customs with our cruising permit. Ive herd this every year. Usally everyone wants to go on home and we skip this plan. We would go in june.iive been before and there are wrecks bearing treasure on every side of this bank. Keys folks have been hitting this bank for a long time. 2 weeks ago 2 Islamorada boats were seized by bahamian defense force along with a panamanian fishing boat. They have a new highspeed cutter and are cracking down on anyone without a cruising permit and fishing permit. Everyone was taken to jail and had to pay alot to get out and then pay more to have there boats released. I know that it cost 12500$ for one of the boats to be released. The panamainens were fined 60000$ in fishing fines and are probably still rotting in fox hill prison.no more running over for the day and fishing and then running back to key largo. Must go to bimini first and clear customs. Ths area is patroled by the U.S., Bahamas, and cuba. Pray that you are stopped by the coast guard if you are stopped because the other 2 options are not good. When questioned by the bahamians you will be fleeced thoroughly. Every question you ask will be answered with (GOT ANY MONEY). Also you are on your own down there with supplies and logistics there is nothing there. It is beautifu and incredible diving and fishing. Old timers in the keys have many tales of treasure finds from the 60s and 70s. Chuck mitchell had many stories of treasure finds there. He also told me that U.F.O.s would regularly be seen entering and exiting the deep water there. He said dont worry they dont bother anyone. He swore this to be true. Great treasure hunter but a little on the alternative side with his beliefs. His stories at the bar are missed by all here in the keys. Only dude I knew who would regularly play his pan flute while drinking at the bar.

 

[ropesfish]

I have heard several stories about coins being found on Cay Sal and around Cay Sal Bank.
As with many of these stories, I have never heard of the dates of the coins or seen the actual recovered pieces. Here's a little bit of the Navionics chart for the area.



and another shot of the area:

 

[njcommercialdiver]

wow, thats a quick drop off, 30ish ft to 2000+, no wonder why ships piled up there

 

[Jolly Mon]

Gettysburg Adams Sentinel, Nov 30, 1840

 

[Darren in NC]

Case and point to my previous post. Thanks for the follow-up, JM.

 

[Jolly Mon]

Case and point to my previous post. Thanks for the follow-up, JM.

Color me crazy, but this clipping leads me to believe there still may be a large quantity of specie left on the vessel.

It is clear that at the time of the trial the underwriters considered $80,000 to be missing...therefore no "legitimate" salvage operations had been carried out. If Duvalier got $11,000, that leaves $69,000 unaccounted for--5 years after the original event.

Why would the turtlers have left $69,000 on the wreck? Simply because they couldn't get to it. And, of course, they would have had no idea how much coin had originally been on board.

This is not a "ghost wreck". There was upwards of $100,000 in specie aboard, possibly more. The wreck must be in shallow water. It is 70 miles from the middle keys. No large investment required...just a little gas money.

I still think it is very promising, actually even more so than at the beginning.