Photo: Will van Dorp
Not quite three weeks ago the 50′ steel pinky schooner Le Papillon came ashore on Fire Island, a barrier island off Long Island, northeast of the entrance to New York harbor. Will van Dorp at the Tugster blog has taken some amazing photographs of the schooner, first being battered by waves and now being swallowed up by the sand, like a scene from a slow motion horror movie. (Go to Will’s blog for more and larger photographs.) Le Papillon may yet be salvaged but it will be a race against time and the shifting sands of Fire Island.
As we posted earlier in the month, the 300 foot long tanker Gluckauf ran aground on Fire Island in 1893 about twenty miles up the beach from where Le Papillon now lies. The Gluckauf was never salvaged and was also swallowed by the shifting sand.
do you (does anyone) know exactly where gluckhauf wrecked and was absorbed? are you interested in going on a mission to find remnants if they can be found/seen from the beach?
The Davis Park Community website says that “remains can be seen in surf at low tide West of Davis Park.”
I would enjoy going on a field trip if we could get weather, schedules and tides to cooperate.
Looking at Google maps there appears to be a rectangular shape slightly to the south west of the Park. Click here to take a look.
i see the shape, and i’m game for a gallivant. let’s figure when we have an especially low tide and see what we can find. i know an avid fan of fire island who also blogs who would LOVE to come too . . . you listening there, bowsprite??
Pingback: Cyclone Reveals Unbury Island’s 130-Year-Old Shipwreck : Old Salt Blog – a virtual port of call for all those who love the sea