A lost Caravel lost in the sands of time
The year was 1612, proudly three small ships were being keeled, three years later a turn of events will mark them in history. Little is known of the changes or modifications of what is referred to as the “Latin Caravel” similar in design to two of the three ships that Columbus sailed across the Atlantic to discover the New World in 1492, but changes in the course of the years did evolve. Much is written in curious sentences of the “Lost Pearl Boat of the Mojave” but in actuality little is really known of the architecture involved. Three ships left Acapulco, in hopes of discovering pearl rich beds of the Gulf of California, now known as the Sea of Cortez. What is known is that the ill fated voyage in 1615 was to say the least a tragedy of errors and negligence. Discovering a tribe of natives on its voyage the small group of boats entered into trade clothing for pearls. Cordone who began the trading decided that the instead of the fine clothing promised he would instead give the natives, bundles of old clothes and rags. Once the deception was detected , the local chief sent his warriors on the attack. Cordone was mortally wounded, his ship returned to Acapulco with its wounded skipper and the skipper of a sister ship, Rosales whose boat struck a reef and began to take on water abandoned, but not before its cargo of pearls had been moved to the boat skippered by Juan de Iturbe. There the story of the “Ghost ship of the Mojave” was put in motion.
As we all know nature, and circumstance can often lead to disaster, Iturbe was about to find out exactly how those events would forever seal the fate of his boat. Iturbe proceeded to sail North, entering the flooded Colorado river basin he proceeded to sail further inland. At that point in time as well a tidal inudation of the Gulf of California contributed to the error of assumption. Iturbe thinking he was still in the Gulf, proceeded to search for the beds of pearls. The as fast as the flooding occured it began its retreat. Iturbe soon realized that the basin was emptying and made his attempt at escape back to open water,though a shallow draught its water under keel was just not there, and Iturbe’s fate and that of his ship was sealed. Finding his craft stranded in the sands, he evacuated his crew with provisions all they could carry and trekked across the desert and mountains of Cailfornia some 366 miles distance to San Luis Obispo to the Spanish Mission there. In 1616 he was given another ship but that of his former command was lost.
In the area now known as the Mojave Desert, in legend and myth the ill fated boat and its location remains a mystery today and as well in the archives in both Spain and the reports filed by Iturbe the lost in the area somewhere above the 34th latitude remains. For eight months I have researched the “Great Bird of the Mojave” as it has been handed down by Native Americans, the sporadic news reports over 396 years, all state to date the location of the “Pearl Ship” remains a mystery. The craft from some reports was 30 meters in length, 8 meters at the beam and had an estimated weight of 50 tonnes. Studying satellite and archival records, my research begins next week to explore three sites of the possible location of Juan de Iturbe’s ill fated pearl boat.
A lost Caravel lost in the sands of time
Still Here – Blanca, 11Sep2011
It’s been almost a year since my last entry here– sorry! Work has progressed on Ballena Blanca, even though I almost uniformly forget to take pictures of the results. Finally, here’s somewhat of a progress report.
Once she was launched and water was staying out from underneath, it was time to tackle keeping water out from above. A closer inspection of the deck of the bridge showed a number of mounting holes (for the helm seat, etc.) that had been drilled through into the fiberglass core without being properly sealed. 20 years of rain had encroached into the wood core (the deck was a 3/4″ thick wood core sandwiched between two 3/8″ layers of fiberglass). I cut the largest rectangle I could of the top ‘glass layer and pryed it off. Removing the wood with a chisel (much of it was loose and rotted) allowed me to replace the core. I found a synthetic core material online, called Divinycell– it’s basically a synthetic balsa. Rick at Tall Timbers ordered me a 4×8 sheet. Cut it to size, drill some vent holes, drizzle in epoxy and spread it around, weight down the original top ‘glass layer with cinderblocks and voila! Repaired deck. I wish it were as easy to do as it is to describe.
(Pointer– never mix an entire gallon of epoxy at once, especially in 95 degree heat, even with “slow” hardener. It sets before you even finish stirring, and makes enough heat to melt your bucket and boil the river for a good long while. At about $100 per gallon, epoxy resin doesn’t come cheap. But hey, this valuable education I’m getting is gonna cost me once in awhile.)
It’s not pretty yet, but some grinding, fairing and sanding (oh my!), plus non-skid paint, and it’ll be as good as new. Better, since with synthetic core, it can’t rot. Best side story– when hurrican Irene blew through, dropping enough rain in a day to flood the boatyard with a foot of water, I checked the overhead in the salon. Water still leaks in along the windows, but not a drip from the overhead. Success!
Along with that work was replacing and repairing the bridge bench areas. The locker covers on the benches and the small bulkheads at the forward end of each bench were originally plywood. Gone, baby, gone. Now they’re made of 3/4″ PVC board. The dark yellow is the epoxy adhesive filler. It’ll get sanded smooth when I prep the whole area for paint. Again, the acid test: hurricane Irene wasn’t able to drive water underneath the locker hatch-covers. The area under the benches stayed dry.
The last places that used to be enclosed with plywood that need to be re-done are the spaces under the water-ways, aft of the salon. The starboard one already has its new column installed, but you can see where the old plywood enclosure was. I used 6″ diameter schedule 40 PVC pipe as a support column (the water-ways don’t need the support, but it’s nice and solid that way). Good old 3/4″ PVC board for the rest, cut and fitted into place. The dark space inside (where the extension cord is coild in the picture) leads directly into the cabin. Doesn’t matter if you close the windows and doors, wasps can nest anywhere they want inside with those alleys open!
I’ve finished enclosing the port side one behind the ladder, except for an panel that will cover the access hole. I’ll still need to be able to get into that space to install shore-water and shore-power connections, maintain the scupper drain hoses, etc. After that’s all done, I can “bomb” the boat for bugs again in preparation for us to sleep aboard (amidst the scattered power-tools and fiberglass detritus!).
Fair winds!
starboard waterway
port waterway
bridge benches
bridge deck repair
Recording Seal Cove shipwreck.
Recording outer hull planking from the baseline was exacting work. Here investigators are noting the placement of an outer hull strake. The view is to the north.
Wooden pegs and Volunteers
Only late yesterday did we discover any definite fasteners on top of the keel. Attached is a close-up of a wooden peg, or treenail, in the center at the top of the keel. We only found two of them, both at the northern end of the vessel. Perhaps they attached a stem or sternpost.