A piece of a wrecked ship that washed ashore Monday night will be
put back on the bottom of Lake Huron provided the weather
cooperates .
The 20 meter-long chunk of wood beams and spikes is most likely
from the deck of a ship.
Dave Wilson president the local chapter of Save Ontario
Shipwrecks, said the organization is planning to drag the wreck
back out about 150 meters from the shore and leave it between two
other shipwrecks that divers maintain. There is an interpretative
trail from the shore to the first wreck and over to the second
one. This third wreck will add to the trail.
But Wilson is concerned there won't be a break in the weather
before the ice forms. He said once the wreck is exposed to the
air and if the wood is frozen it will degrade quickly. The divers
need a calm day before they can pull the wreck out to safety.
"If we don't do this, someone pull it up and smash and bury
it" said Wilson.
Ken Hunter, commissioner of works for Goderich, said "We've
had them on the beach before, but never as big as this."
He said it will probably have to be moved because the town is
concerned about safety on the beach. Spikes are projecting from
the wreck.
Wilson said he estimates the ship is from the late 1800s. It is a
new ship that the divers have never come across. He doesn't know
which vessel the piece could be from.
"There are over 50 wrecks off Goderich that we know about,"
said Wilson.
Wilson said there are other mystery boats out in the lake near
Goderich that they have heard "old wives' tales" about.
The piece lying on the beach probably inched its way along the
floor of the lake and eventually hit the beach. Many vessels were
taken out and scuttled. Now pieces of those vessels are coming
ashore.
The past couple of years have been great for diving said Wilson
because zebra mussels have cleaned some of the algae from the
water in the area.
The wreck will have to be put out into the lake under at least 3
meters of water, or Wilson said it would just work its way back
onto the shore.
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