Sunken sailing ship in NJ - What to do?

[ShadowLine]

About 25 years ago my father showed me the location of a shipwreck he and my uncle found while doing some fall scuba diving in Cape May County NJ in the 1960s. According to he and my uncle it is a wooden sailing ship and they were able to find a cannon within the small part of the wreckage that was exposed. It was late in the season and they were unable to retrieve the cannon at that time and resolved to spend the next summer diving the wreck to see what they could find. The area was known to be an area frequented by pirates and they suspected it was either a pirate ship or another ship that was seeking refuge from foul weather that shoaled out. In any event as they returned to the site for the next several years it was consistently covered by sand. It's an easy place to identify due to its proximity to permanent landmarks so they were sure they were in the right spot, but had the unfortunate luck that the sand had completely covered it. After a time they just gave up as they both moved away from the area and stopped scuba diving. So here's the question..what can or should be done with this? The sands shift every year due to the tidal flows. Is it just a cool story to remember, or is there a way to investigate it? I'd appreciate any thoughts.

 

[BennyV]

About 25 years ago my father showed me the location of a shipwreck he and my uncle found while doing some fall scuba diving in Cape May County NJ in the 1960s. According to he and my uncle it is a wooden sailing ship and they were able to find a cannon within the small part of the wreckage that was exposed. It was late in the season and they were unable to retrieve the cannon at that time and resolved to spend the next summer diving the wreck to see what they could find. The area was known to be an area frequented by pirates and they suspected it was either a pirate ship or another ship that was seeking refuge from foul weather that shoaled out. In any event as they returned to the site for the next several years it was consistently covered by sand. It's an easy place to identify due to its proximity to permanent landmarks so they were sure they were in the right spot, but had the unfortunate luck that the sand had completely covered it. After a time they just gave up as they both moved away from the area and stopped scuba diving. So here's the question..what can or should be done with this? The sands shift every year due to the tidal flows. Is it just a cool story to remember, or is there a way to investigate it? I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Cool story. I used to go to Cape May quite often.

What kind of resources do you have available? Are you a diver?

What does the state of NJ have on the books in regards to recovery?

 

[ShadowLine]

I have no resources essentially. I don't dive (always wanted to, but never took the steps) I haven't even looked into recovery for NJ.

 

[Terry Soloman]

The schooner D.H. Ingraham was bound for Richmond, Virginia from Rockland, Maine, carrying a shipment of limes when it ran aground near Hereford Inlet in early December 1886.

 

[Crow]

About 25 years ago my father showed me the location of a shipwreck he and my uncle found while doing some fall scuba diving in Cape May County NJ in the 1960s. According to he and my uncle it is a wooden sailing ship and they were able to find a cannon within the small part of the wreckage that was exposed. It was late in the season and they were unable to retrieve the cannon at that time and resolved to spend the next summer diving the wreck to see what they could find. The area was known to be an area frequented by pirates and they suspected it was either a pirate ship or another ship that was seeking refuge from foul weather that shoaled out. In any event as they returned to the site for the next several years it was consistently covered by sand. It's an easy place to identify due to its proximity to permanent landmarks so they were sure they were in the right spot, but had the unfortunate luck that the sand had completely covered it. After a time they just gave up as they both moved away from the area and stopped scuba diving. So here's the question..what can or should be done with this? The sands shift every year due to the tidal flows. Is it just a cool story to remember, or is there a way to investigate it? I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Hello Shadowline.

This might be wreck below?

She lies in 30 feet of water covered in sand.

Crow

 

[ShadowLine]

The wreck is in water that is between 28-40ft (depending upon the year and how the sand shifted due to storms). Makes me want to get my scuba cert and look around every year.

 

[BennyV]

The wreck is in water that is between 28-40ft (depending upon the year and how the sand shifted due to storms). Makes me want to get my scuba cert and look around every year.

“the best time to plant a tree was 25 years ago, the second best time is today.”

 

[Crow]

The wreck is in water that is between 28-40ft (depending upon the year and how the sand shifted due to storms). Makes me want to get my scuba cert and look around every year.

After spending a lifetime searching for treasures with many failures and odd successes. It is not an easy path to follow. You will face changes beyond your wildest imagination. yet you will truly live every breathing moment.

In life we all become prisoners of our device. With in commitment with work, montage, paying the rent, family and many other things. For many are content with their lot but there are others restless souls that crave more. Yet there is no more a freer man that the one that dares to chase a dream.

Success or failure is irrespective. Why because in the end its not the final destination but the journey to get there that ever really matters.

And it all starts with few steps.


Crow