Sable island map zip#

The rope was then wound on a board so it would uncoil without snagging, and crews would use the rope to haul out heavier lines to carry a breeches buoy - a rope-based rescue device similar to a zip line. The gun was used to shoot a lightweight rope out to wrecks within 200 metres of the shore. Soon after the Crofton Hall went aground about five kilometres from the east spit on Sable Island, Alexander Graham Bell - accompanied by members of his family - visited the island and Bell wrote of the wreck in his diary.Ĭrofton Hall was also the third vessel for which the newly-arrived Lyle gun was used in a rescue off Sable Island. (Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, a part of the Nova Scotia Museum, MP221.153) in dense fog and strong winds.Ī view of the port quarter of the ship Crofton Hall, with its back broken and ashore on Sable Island. The ship Arcadia was carrying a crew of 21 men and 149 German passengers in addition to its cargo when it struck the northeast sand bar on Nov. It holds that a phantom woman haunts Sable Island’s beaches looking for the severed finger of her hand, cut off by the looters to remove her wedding ring. The rumours of looting and murder also inspired a fictional ghost story. However, there were enough safety concerns that people began calling for a rescue station on the island.Ī year later, Nova Scotia established the Humane Establishment on Sable, which went on to save hundreds of lives in the years that followed. The officer reported finding evidence of looters salvaging valuable personal possessions but no evidence of murder. (Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, a part of the Nova Scotia Museum, MP221.2)įollowing the ship's sinking there were rumours bodies being looted and the possible murder of survivors from the Francis - so an officer was sent to Sable Island to investigate. Gilpin shows one of the many early wrecks on Sable Island in the early 1800s. 1800: Francisįrancis, which was also a type of sailing ship called a snow, is the subject of one of the most enduring ghost stories on Sable Island.Ī sketch by J.B. On the third day the master, mate and others sailed it to Canso, where the residents of Canso then mounted a successful rescue operation. The ship's longboat had washed ashore and was somewhat damaged, but over the next two days it was repaired. 1737: CatherineĬatherine was a type of sailing ship called a snow, which was similar to a brig but used a small spar rigged behind the main mast to make it easier to handle the spanker sail.Īfter the Catherine was shipwrecked, more than 100 survivors made it ashore to Sable Island where they used the main sail of the vessel to construct a tent. Five days later, they were rescued by a Basque whaling vessel. Clarke led 16 people who managed to get in a small boat with one oar and they spent seven days at sea before reaching Newfoundland. The water was too shallow for the Squirrel to offer assistance and most of the crew aboard the Delight drowned. Clarke submitted to Gilbert's orders and the Delight - the largest remaining ship in the squadron and the one containing most of the remaining supplies - went aground and sank on one of Sable Island's sandbars. The crews were exploring the waters around Sable Island when Delight's master, Richard Clarke, had a dispute with Gilbert over a safe course near Sable.

It was sailing in company with HMS Squirrel - a frigate commanded by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a British adventurer and explorer who served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. HMS Delight is the first recorded shipwreck off Sable Island.

Here are 10 of the most notable shipwrecks on this deceptively dangerous island of sand: 1583: HMS Delight The island, hidden by fog and storms, leaves little of the ships it wrecks. Sable Island is often called the 'Graveyard of the Atlantic' and for good reason - there have been more than 350 shipwrecks recorded there since 1583.

Sable island map