Sailing Ships (2/5)

packet ship Orpheus

A packet ship of the early 1800s. Of note is the way the sails on the mainmast are set backward, against the sails on the fore- and mizzen- masts. Known as "backing", this was how a square-rigged ship "put on the brakes" to slow or stop without actually furling the sails.

Wind power has been used by mankind for millennia. Almost every human culture has constructed sailing vessels of some kind, from crude log or reed rafts to the highly developed wind-jammers of the early twentieth century. Many of these vessels were the most complex and technologically advanced machines of their time - equivalent to our jet airliners.

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Shipwreck Cornelia Soule
Type:
shipwreck, schooner, USA
Specs:
306 tons, 6 crew
Sunk:
Saturday April 26, 1902
ran aground in bad weather - no casualties
GPS:
40°25.992' -73°10.620' (AWOIS 2013)
Depth:
25 ft



Shipwreck Dorothy B. Barrett
Type:
shipwreck, schooner, USA
Built:
1904, Deering & Donnell, Bath ME USA
Specs:
( 259 x 45 ft ) 2088 gross tons, 10 crew
Sunk:
Wednesday August 14, 1918
shelled by U-117 - no casualties
Depth:
60 ft

low debris field mostly buried in the sand


Shipwreck Rusland
The Rusland, aground, with onlookers.
Type:
Adonis - shipwreck, wood-hulled bark
Rusland - shipwreck, iron-hulled steamer, England
Built:
Adonis - 1853, Germany
Rusland - 1872, Scotland, as Kenilworth
Specs:
Adonis - 550 tons, 12 crew
Rusland - ( 345 x 37 ft ) 2538 gross tons, ~200 passengers & crew
Depth:
25 ft
Sunk:
Adonis - Tuesday March 8, 1859 - ran aground in bad weather, no casualties
Rusland - Saturday March 17, 1877 - ran aground in bad weather, no casualties

Type:
shipwreck, sailing ship
Built:
Russell Ship Building Company, East Deering ME, 1873
Sunk:
Saturday December 14, 1907
ran aground 72 mph gale - no casualties (incredible)
Depth:
25 ft

Shipwreck Edward H. Cole
Type:
shipwreck, schooner, USA
Built:
1904, Cobb Butler & Co, Rockland ME USA
Specs:
( 228 x 43 ft ) 1791 gross tons
Sunk:
Sunday June 2, 1918
bombed by U-151 - no casualties
Depth:
185 ft




Sailing Ships

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The first purchases most new divers want to make are fins, a snorkel, and a mask. The mask and the fins are necessary for diving, but while snorkeling is easy in the clear, warm, shallow waters of the Caribbean, local conditions do not favor it, as the bottom is seldom visible from the surface. None of these items should be very expensive.

2016 Update

Not much has changed in the 20 years since I first wrote this guide. These were glass, silicone, and plastic back then, and they still are. Modern stuff may be sleeker than the old models that are pictured here, but really not much has changed. I still have the first mask I ever bought, and still use it. That comes from taking good care of your gear.