Pieces found in N.C. may be from old shipwreck

Corolla, N.C.

Shifting sands and surging tides on the Outer Banks have delivered more pieces from what may be the oldest shipwreck on the North Carolina coast.

More could be out there.

"Anywhere along that beach, anyone could find something," said Bob Hill of San Diego, who owns a house in Duck.

In May, about 15 miles south of where the main wreckage was discovered, Hill found a 15-foot-long piece of a keel that had wooden pegs and scarf and key types of joinery that matched the 12-ton remains of a wreck that could date from the Jamestown era.

"As soon as I saw the pegs, that was the clincher," he said.

A closer look revealed a notch in the wood filled with a dark and fuzzy substance that experts believe is a mix of tar and horse hair used to seal

the ship.

"That piece is definitely from the wreck," said Joseph Schwarzer, director of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum and other state maritime museums.

Storms in November and December uncovered the remains of an undocumented shipwreck in Corolla.

Over the next few months, state experts found signs the wreck was much older than any of the thousands documented along the North Carolina coast.

Among the clues was the use of wooden pegs rather than iron spikes. The wreck's construction matched that of the Sea Venture, a 1609 flagship that carried people and cargo to Jamestown. Discovered decades ago, its remains lie in Bermuda.

The Corolla wreck was salvaged from the beach in April and now lies on a vacant lot near the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.

Early photographs show large pieces of the wreck were torn away by the pounding surf between December and April.

Plans are to move the wreck Monday to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras and place it on a concrete pad outside the museum, Schwarzer said.

Later, a building will be constructed around the wreck. The wreck, 17 feet wide by 37 feet long, could not be brought into the museum without taking it apart, he said.

In February, two other pieces were found in Nags Head, about 30 miles from Corolla. Katie and Jason Humphries of Nags Head found a piece about 6 feet long and a foot square as they were driving along the beach after a storm,

Katie Humphries said.

A friend, Mike Tames, had found a piece of similar size in Nags Head just a week earlier.

Those remains will have to be studied further to make sure they go with the Corolla wreck, Schwarzer said.

George Browne of New Jersey, who has property in Corolla, found the original wreck in 2008 while walking along the beach. He photographed it, marked it with GPS and sent the information to the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology. Within days, it had disappeared under the sand again.

At first it was believed to be an already-documented wreck. But in December, Browne saw it again and recontacted the state shipwreck experts. In the following months, closer investigation showed the wreck could be the oldest ever found on the North Carolina coast.

"My primary concern was the preservation of a wreck, its historical significance and protecting it so that everyone could appreciate it," Browne said.

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com