The Salvage History of Antigua and Barbuda

By Nick Fuller

My name is Dr. Nick Fuller, and I am a practising Family Physician and Medical Examiner. I have been salvaging stranded vessels for the last 25 years. I have seen everything, from boats that got stranded in perfectly calm water to terrifying hurricane storms. And for years, the beautiful photographs and detailed reports of these salvages were nothing more than record keeping. That is, until I decided to put them all together. Come experience the thrill of salvaging stranded yachts in the turquoise blue waters of Antigua and Barbuda! This masterpiece novel contains hundreds of breath-taking images as well as funny, frightening, and exhilarating stories to match!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Fuller
• Release date: Jan 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466136243

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The Salvage History Of Antigua and Barbuda

By Dr. Nick Fuller, MD

Copyright 2012 Dr. Nick Fuller

Smashwords Edition

Table of Contents

Preface

I.Acknowledgements

II.The First Salvors

III.Antigua, Barbuda, Redonda

IV.The First Inhabitants

V.Maritime Emergency Response Organizations

VI.Terms of Engagement

VII.The Atlantic North Equatorial Current and Its Cargo

VIII.Fire at Sea

IX.The Environment

X.Ground Swells

XI.Hurricanes

XII.Some Antigua Strandings

XIII.Some Barbuda Strandings

Conclusion

Preface

It was never my intention to write a book about the salvage history of Antigua/Barbuda. As I became more involved in this field over the last 25 years, I began keeping records and taking photographs of the various mishaps, and with time I managed to fill up a relatively large Rubbermaid container with these reports. Since the advent of GPS technology in the 90’s strandings have become few and far between. It followed naturally that, rather than leave these documented stories to get moldy, moth eaten, and lost with time, I should put it all together in one form or another, at least just for historical reasons. This presentation is the path I chose, and I hope that it will give you some interesting reading and be worth your time.

The majority of the strandings in our waters are vessels that are relatively small both in size and value. They are usually either charter bareboats or privately owned recreational yachts. The specific casualties discussed in the following chapters are compilations of work done by both local salvors or by local seafarers such as fishermen.

I.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to:

My wife, for tolerating my preoccupation with the sea.

My crew, for being ready and willing 24/7 to leave with a moments notice and adventure off to render assistance to stricken vessels day or night, fair or foul weather, anywhere in our regional waters. Special mention to: my son David, a competent and natural seaman; George Mitchell, the Ever-ready Bunny in dead, out alive; Derek Biel, the best Sports fisherman I’ve ever known; fearless Wayne Emarde, who will put on his dive gear and do site dive surveys day or night in the worst weather; and Snowman and Bibi. Also, thanks to Graham Bloomfield, my brother-in-law who was quite active with us in the earlier days.

To Eddie Barreto, my close friend and a great sailor, for his advice on many topics related to this project.

To Shaun Fox, of the Thomas Cooper Law Firm in London, for competently dealing with our claims, even as small as most of them have been. I would proudly send him a photo of a 70 foot yacht on a reef and he would send me back one of a 500 foot cargo ship on a shoal somewhere in the Far East!

To Carl Mitchell of A-1 Marine at Jolly Harbour, the best diesel engineer I’ve ever come across, for keeping my engines in good running order; a thinker.

Last, but not least, to Katie Eckert for putting my notes and records together and helping me to get this project done.

II.

The First Salvors

There are few islands in the Caribbean that have as many reefs as Antigua and Barbuda. Most of the north, east, and south coasts of Antigua are bordered by dangerous breaking reefs. In Barbuda there is probably as much reef around the island as there is land on the island itself; the entire north and east coasts are virtually impenetrable by yachts. The rest of Barbuda’s coastline has many scattered heads and shoals.

It is no wonder then, that there are well over three hundred documented wrecks off these two islands, the first dating as far back as 1592.

Size for size, Barbuda has had more strandings and wrecks over the centuries than Antigua, primarily because its lower height of 128 feet makes it difficult to see from a distance, even in daylight, often only becoming visible from some five miles out. Coupled with this, the only village on the island, Codrington, is on the west coast, so before the advent of the two hotels on the southeast coast, the majority of the rest of the island’s coastline was always dark at night.

Little of value has ever been found on these wrecks, nor is there any recorded history of gold and silver being lost here. Both islands lay out of the Spanish shipping routes. However, having said this, there has previously been little or no surveillance and control over diving operations off our shores, so we can’t be too sure of what has been found.

Because of the large number of wrecks occurring in Barbuda, it was only natural that the Barbudans themselves became the first true salvors.

In 1685 Barbuda was leased by the British to Christopher and John Codrington, whose father was Captain General of the Leeward Islands. Subsequent leases gave them the rights to the wrecks with their cargoes along Barbuda’s coastline. The income earned from those wrecks significantly enhanced the earnings of the Codringtons, so much so that they organized a quick response salvage team made up of the best qualified among their salvors, had readied equipment and boats, and were as such able to quickly respond to a stranding and retrieve what they could. The goods would then be stored and later shipped to Antigua to be sold. Once the Codrington’s lease ended, the Barbudans continued the work on their own. With the advent of marine radio and better charts the strandings became less frequent.

Many lives were lost over the years. In 1749 the Pearl, en route from West Africa, was wrecked in Barbuda. Seventy slaves and eleven crew drowned. In 1755 the Hazard, a French slave ship was wrecked and over eighty slaves drowned.*

In 1881 the A.S. Bradford was wrecked off Two Foot Bay, Barbuda. Thirteen villagers lost their lives in the salvage attempt*.

Today many Barbudans still earn their living off the sea as lobster and conch divers, exporting their catch mainly to Guadeloupe and St. Martin.

Due to the withering effects of the warm tropical oceans and the numerous hurricanes over the years, little remains to be seen of the majority of these wrecks, particularly the wooden ones. However, cannons, bricks, and a variety of old anchors are frequently seen while free diving along the reefs on the east coast of Barbuda.

* Antigua and Barbuda Shipwrecks and Other Marine Disasters, Desmond Nicholson

III.

Antigua, Barbuda and Redonda

Antigua

The twin-island independent nation of Antigua and Barbuda is located on the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea in the middle of the Leeward Islands. The tiny (0.6 square miles) uninhabited island of Redonda which lies 28 miles west of Antigua is also part of the nation. Antigua is 108 square miles in size, 14 miles long and 11 miles wide. Its highest point is Boggy Peak (recently renamed Mt. Obama), 1,319 feet, and lies to the south.

The geology of the island consists of a southern volcanic mountain range, a central clay zone, and a limestone northern coastline. Antigua and Barbuda share the same island shelf, which averages 100 feet in depth between the islands.

Antigua has a population of approximately 82,000 comprised of a combination of blacks (91%), mixed (4.4%), white (1.7%), and 2.96% other. The white population originates from Britain, U.S.A., Portugal, Arab countries, and a small amount of Asians. In recent years, there has been a significant influx of immigrants from Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. A large number of Antiguans live abroad, primarily in the U.K., U.S.A. and Canada.

The Antiguans of African lineage are descendants of West African slaves brought to the island centuries ago to provide labour for the sugar cane industry. The majority (74%) of Antiguans are Christians, mainly Anglicans, then Catholics and Protestants.

On clear days the island of Guadeloupe can be seen 40 miles to the south, Montserrat 22 miles to the southwest, St. Kitts and Nevis 44 miles to the west, and Barbuda 22 miles to the north.

The warm dry northeast trade winds are constant for most of the year, making Antigua a sailor’s paradise. They ease somewhat in the months of September and October. Temperatures range from the mid-seventies in winter months to the mid-eighties in the summer. Rainfall is scant, with an annual average of 42 inches. The oval shaped island has a myriad of sheltered bays, inlets and harbours around its entire coastline, boasting, it is said, 365 white sand beaches. The majority of the coastline is protected by a maze of coral reefs, making it one of the most difficult coastlines to safely navigate in the eastern Caribbean.

A number of offshore small islands lie nearby to the northeast and east, the main ones being Guiana Island (400+ acres), Bird Island (21 acres), Long Island (Jumby