The Stern Castle of the Senõra de las Maravillas

[cornelis 816]

Reading the story of padre Diego and starting at the point where he was holding on to a hatch cover we may assume that this hatch cover came from the mid section or forward section of the Maravillas . This is confirmed by his remark that he saw the stern-castle of the Maravillas , all three decks of it , crash in a tumbling fall astern to starboard . Lateron he saw in the distance the silhouette of part of the bow and foremast still protruding above the surface of the ocean . No mention of the sterncastle ! Now let us go back to the ship ,, Jesus Maria y Josef ,, under command of Don Juan de Hoyos . This ship hit a rock and lost her rudder. She anchored in less thanfour and a half fathoms of water . When daylight came they saw part of the almirantas wooden foremast sticking out of the water , less than a gunshot away . When people in the water signalled for help they launched a longboat to help them . So now we may assume that the prow section of the Maravilla stayed above water long enough to safe some of the people clinging to her . This section of the Maravilla was quite heavy because of the ballast rocks and othe material used for ballast ( think of silver bars ) . Now let us look at the treasure trail . You can see a picture of that on page 247 of Dave Horners book ,, Ship Wreck ,, . I will try to copy it on this post later . The main give-away is the ballast pile . Now normally there is no ballast pile in a stern section of a ship . The hold is the normal place for ballast , be it rocks , old cannon or silver bars . The place of sinking of the prow section was not very deep . This section was sitting on the sand . The mast was clearly in sight for some time . If the mast broke off later on it would make it easy to find the spot back because measurements taken from the ,, Jesus Maria y Josef ,, were clearly given . Water depth was sis ,,brazas,,. The hull lying just North of ,, El Mimbre,, . The bottom is clean sand . The measurements taken were , 27 1/3 degrees 27 and 20 North. A second measurement was taken and showed 27 1/6 degrees 27 and 10 North . Now the question is where is the stern castle ? The sterncastle broke away from the prowsection. This sterncastle was quite large ( three decks ) . We may assume that there was no sail on this section .The treasure was on this section of the ship ( at least the more valuable part of it ) . The weight of this treasure was not big enough to make the sterncastle sink because of the vast volume of wood in this part of the ship. Being under water for the bigger part of it , the wind had no grip on it . However the current had a great part to do with the direction this part of the ship took .My idea therefor is that the sterncastle was taken further North by the current without being influanced by the wind . The big rewards are still there for the right people to take the trouble to investigate some more . Cornelius

 

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[cornelis 816]

Here is the treasure trail of part of the Maravilla . This is a copy out of the book by Dave Horner . If interested in the complete story as told by padre Diego please read the book by Dave . Beter yet add this book to your library . I hope you don,t mind me doing this Dave . Cornelius

 

[OldGold74]

Cornelius pulling the dogs tail.....hmm a few dogs here...some may have dived that wreck, you have some good insight and may well be right, what does Mackaydon think about that and how will the Bahamas feel about a licence...ps not calling you a dog Don hats off to you I can only dream about your adventures. Cornelius I cannot call you Corny as it reminds me of this midget that always referred to you as Corny, so Cornelius ever been to Weesp? I think you have a point many of the stern castles broke free, thanks for the fresh posts.

 

[cornelis 816]

We may assume that the prow of the Maravilla was pointing to the South . The stern castle broke free of the prow and was falling to the starboard side , astern of the ship. Since this section of the ship was now in the grip of the current and not of the wind it was heading North ( or North West ) . I did some checking on how a piece of timber reacts in a current of water . It will not crawl up the side of a ( sand ) bank but will gradually seek deeper water . So I think that this section of the ship ( which was never salvaged , not even by Marx ) was floating , for the greatest part under water , toward the North - North West toward deeper water ( since no wreck will climb up the sides of a sand bank ) . It may have come to rest quite a distance away from the prow section which sank in about 27 1/4 to 27 1/5 degrees North . Cornelius

 

[simba99]

If someone is seriously interested in the stern section of the Maravilla..as many of you know i worked on the site for many years and found a lot of treasure..we know which way it went and only stopped because of the moratorium. I intend to go back when it is lifted.
we would certainly consider a serious and financially capable partner . My email is herbohumphreys@yahoo.com

 

[Mackaydon]

I agree with Cornelis's conclusion; namely,(quote) My idea therefor is that the sterncastle was taken further North by the current without being influanced by the wind. (end quote).

A similar situation existed here on the West Coast: In 1865, the Brother Jonathan was lost after hitting what became know as Jonathan Rock, off Crescent City, California. Many, including myself, searched for her--without success. It wasn't until Don Knight and others found her 3/4 or more of a mile away--HAVING DRIFTED UNDERWATER IN THE CURRENT would be my guess since no mention by the many survivors is made in the record of watching the vessel visibly drift away from that rock.

Without a doubt Herbo and Marx have the greatest experience with the Maravilla; while all of us share the frustration of its lost stern section.
Don.......

 

[fladiverdown]

I have sat in 110 feet of on the edge of Mantanilla Reef and the abyss watching pelagics swim by. Maybe it was the nitrogen narcosis, but I often wondered how many loaded galleons bounced off these same reefs and ended up in the deep water.

Black Bart