SurfCutter
New member
A couple of years after I had started to scuba dive my dive partner Gerry was the digger for information . He would spend his off time from work pouring over local history and talking to people he came in contact with on history and local legends etc ... Well one piece of information he trip over was the daughter of a local man that spent allot of his youth out on and around the waters of Wareham , Onset , and Marion Harbor.
As a boy he would tell her of he and his friends adventures boating and swimming , fishing and such these waters . One story he would tell was how they would have swim races across the Marion Harbor and out to Bird Island and back this was back in the early thirty's and it was how they would some times take a rest just off the beach at Bird Island that they would dive down and sit on the 2 green lengths of sewer pipe that sat on the bottom .
Back in the war of 1812 the English had a small frigate Nimrod this vessel ran up and down the coast of southern New England and for the most part had her way with the local shipping and even was bold enough to sail in to Wareham harbor and send troops ashore to raid and burn supply's . She was attempting to do the same in Marion harbor when she ran aground off Bird Island on an out going tide . Stuck in the bottom she sat the captain and crew doing all they could to get her unstuck , now this was not lost on the local militia and so they started to get things together to attack her . the Nimrod was so feared at the time that a local captain of a smaller gun boat refused to take after the beached frigate such was terror she had . in the mean time the local militia started to drag a field cannon across the dunes to the mouth of the harbor to shell the ship , she was that close . The captain of the Nimrod (name escapes me now) ordered the ship to be lightened to try to get her off the sand bar , this included the two heavy cannon on the top stern deck along with shot and some stores . As the tide came back in and reached high tide this and other efforts by her captain and crew she was able to get free and sail off and back to England were the Captain was given honors for saving ship and company.
The cannon sat on the bottom along with other artifacts for many years some times seen other times burier in the sands off Bird Island but for the most part forgotten with time . Gerry researched all this and as far as we could tell they were still there so wreck hunting we went. The day was perfect a light wind warm , just a perfect day to be on the water . Bird Island is a protected shore line for nesting birds that and Marion harbor is a working harbor with lots of water craft mostly sail boats and of every size . We launched Gerry's small cabin cruiser from Onset and the short ride over to Bird Island was great . After watching the harbor traffic for a short time and lining up the local land marks from what Gerry had been told was the location of the bronze cannon we found a spot to anchor and set to work getting in to our gear.
This was after setting out our Dive flags 5 yards from our now anchored boat . To this day I do not know why I have never had the feeling I had that day after getting ready to hit the water if I was suited up I went ....this day something just did not feel right the more I got ready and checked , double checked my gear and Gerry's and he mine I felt less and less at ease with the dive something was not right . I voiced my uneasiness to Gerry , now understand I was just a kid a few years out of High School and Gerry is just older enough than me to be my father . Knowing me as he did we both stopped getting ready and sat in the cabin and talked but not getting ready as fast as before to get in the water .
The hatch to the cabin was open and as I sat there something started to be seen out through the hatch and grow bigger and taller to the point it was a mast to a very large sail boat.
I stuck my head up through the hatch in time to seen this boat under full sail pass by our anchored bow by twenty feet and through the Dive flags we had out not more than 5 yard to our Port side. we had anchored off the beach from Bird Island 25 yards and was not in the harbor channel .the water at this time was not more than 12-15 feet deep .
The guy running the sail boat , I will not give him the honor or title of Captain was not the least bit worried about almost hitting our anchored boat and only mildly interested if we had Divers down ....
:veryangry:
To this day I wish I had gotten off a few choice words or we had given chase to this sailing wreck waiting to happen but I did not and we did not . How it missed the bottom and the large rock that are around the Island I do not know , but this ended any idea to dive there that day .
We did not get back to try to find these cannon and the girl had told others of her fathers find and they have been recovered along with other artifacts , we were close and there first but did not grab the brass ring to make it happen ...Could of Would have , Should have ...
Bill G.
As a boy he would tell her of he and his friends adventures boating and swimming , fishing and such these waters . One story he would tell was how they would have swim races across the Marion Harbor and out to Bird Island and back this was back in the early thirty's and it was how they would some times take a rest just off the beach at Bird Island that they would dive down and sit on the 2 green lengths of sewer pipe that sat on the bottom .
Back in the war of 1812 the English had a small frigate Nimrod this vessel ran up and down the coast of southern New England and for the most part had her way with the local shipping and even was bold enough to sail in to Wareham harbor and send troops ashore to raid and burn supply's . She was attempting to do the same in Marion harbor when she ran aground off Bird Island on an out going tide . Stuck in the bottom she sat the captain and crew doing all they could to get her unstuck , now this was not lost on the local militia and so they started to get things together to attack her . the Nimrod was so feared at the time that a local captain of a smaller gun boat refused to take after the beached frigate such was terror she had . in the mean time the local militia started to drag a field cannon across the dunes to the mouth of the harbor to shell the ship , she was that close . The captain of the Nimrod (name escapes me now) ordered the ship to be lightened to try to get her off the sand bar , this included the two heavy cannon on the top stern deck along with shot and some stores . As the tide came back in and reached high tide this and other efforts by her captain and crew she was able to get free and sail off and back to England were the Captain was given honors for saving ship and company.
The cannon sat on the bottom along with other artifacts for many years some times seen other times burier in the sands off Bird Island but for the most part forgotten with time . Gerry researched all this and as far as we could tell they were still there so wreck hunting we went. The day was perfect a light wind warm , just a perfect day to be on the water . Bird Island is a protected shore line for nesting birds that and Marion harbor is a working harbor with lots of water craft mostly sail boats and of every size . We launched Gerry's small cabin cruiser from Onset and the short ride over to Bird Island was great . After watching the harbor traffic for a short time and lining up the local land marks from what Gerry had been told was the location of the bronze cannon we found a spot to anchor and set to work getting in to our gear.
This was after setting out our Dive flags 5 yards from our now anchored boat . To this day I do not know why I have never had the feeling I had that day after getting ready to hit the water if I was suited up I went ....this day something just did not feel right the more I got ready and checked , double checked my gear and Gerry's and he mine I felt less and less at ease with the dive something was not right . I voiced my uneasiness to Gerry , now understand I was just a kid a few years out of High School and Gerry is just older enough than me to be my father . Knowing me as he did we both stopped getting ready and sat in the cabin and talked but not getting ready as fast as before to get in the water .
The hatch to the cabin was open and as I sat there something started to be seen out through the hatch and grow bigger and taller to the point it was a mast to a very large sail boat.
I stuck my head up through the hatch in time to seen this boat under full sail pass by our anchored bow by twenty feet and through the Dive flags we had out not more than 5 yard to our Port side. we had anchored off the beach from Bird Island 25 yards and was not in the harbor channel .the water at this time was not more than 12-15 feet deep .
The guy running the sail boat , I will not give him the honor or title of Captain was not the least bit worried about almost hitting our anchored boat and only mildly interested if we had Divers down ....
:veryangry:To this day I wish I had gotten off a few choice words or we had given chase to this sailing wreck waiting to happen but I did not and we did not . How it missed the bottom and the large rock that are around the Island I do not know , but this ended any idea to dive there that day .
We did not get back to try to find these cannon and the girl had told others of her fathers find and they have been recovered along with other artifacts , we were close and there first but did not grab the brass ring to make it happen ...Could of Would have , Should have ...
Bill G.
