nootka
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Well! After nearly four years, this shipwreck chart is ready to go public.
It's been around 30 years since a shipwreck chart has been undertaken for this region, and there are none that are this in-depth. When I met my friend Bill last Summer, I learned about the piece then (in July of 2007). He had been working on it for over three years, by that point.
I was captivated since I grew up here on the North Coast, and many of these shipwrecks are familiar names to me. There are even a few pieces of them in the little beach cabin my family built before I was born, and we lived in until I was five or so. They really are a part of me.
I helped him proofread the text, which is stories about the sinking of each ship listed. We ended up doing about a dozen proofreads for various reasons, but it blew me away the sheer amount of research he put into it.
THEN, he showed me the list of lost fishing vessels. Of course, the one that jumped off the chart to me was Catherine M, which my nephew and his two deckhands died in 2006. So many of the names on the list were like old friends. Several of them my husband fished on before they sank.
I simply couldn't WAIT to have one of these, so I decided the best way to get one was to be involved in the process as much as possible. I really was obnoxious, probably, but Bill allowed it, and even welcomed the help, I like to think.
The chart covers Pt. Grenville along the Washington coast, and goes to Tillamook Bay (where my nephew lost his boat) along the Oregon coast. The center is the mouth of the Columbia River, which is known as the Pacific Graveyard. It is the deadliest bar in the world, or one of them.
The Coast Guard station there at Ilwaco, WA / Cape Disappointment are known as the "Guardians of the Pacific Graveyard." My brother-in-law, Bernie, was stationed there before he passed away. I know there's a forum member named Mary Lou that had a son stationed there, as well. It's also where some of "the Guardian" movie was filmed. These guys saved Martin by towing him in on his boat right before Christmas. They are paid tribute on the chart, too, in a photo of the earliest Coasties there. The USCG approved the use of their logo, which is featured at the very lowest right corner with a stamp.
This has been a long process just the part that I have known about, let alone what I was unaware of.
I'll show you pictures, but you have to know that it looks amazing in person (it is about 46" tall, framed) The photos are rather large, but I don't know that there's much to be gained from looking at it in a thumbnail. They are quite large in person (the charts):
Here is the framed version. It has photos of some of the shipwrecks along the left edge. There is a photo of the Coast Guard lifesaving station crew on the right, as well some more photos of shipwrecks. The square of paper (it is going to be handmade paper and pressed into the paper using an antique letterpress) with the fishing vessels is on the lower right. In the center is another piece of handmade paper with a list of myths that are related to shipwrecks, some of which may well be true, but in doing the research, Bill could not either find proof nor disprove them, and it was agreed that there may be some basis in truth.
Here is how it looks unframed (as in the lithograph). It is printed on coated paper, and that paper is a nice, thick, quality weight:
I have one of these, too, even though I am getting a framed one, as I want all those extras!
And here is a detail scan of the part that is the mouth of the river, so you can see the ships and the names, their positions:
As you can see, there are a LOT of them. The good majority involve a great deal of lives lost. It is sobering...
The chart itself is based on a survey chart done by Charles Wilkes in 1844, so it looks a little different than an actual navigation chart, but it has a neat appeal and as we all know, the coastline and features change constantly due to erosion and tides, currents and the like, so an actual chart would have been "off" for the time period, anyway.
Sorry this is so long. I am so excited about this project, and have been! There were shipwreck charts pinned to the walls in my little childhood cabins, and in beachcombing, we would often see some of the remains of a few of the ships that are listed. We used parts of them to build the beach house, and decorated the yard with scavenged parts. Now that Martin is a fisherman, they are still a big part of our lives.
I could go on and on, but then again, I am fascinated by the stories, and have even met a few new friends as a result of the research I've done after reading some of the stories Bill put on the chart.
The photo of the framed one is not finished, quite yet, as that is the first prototype. He's still waiting on the handmade paper (the other is a parchment "stand in"), and an element from the Spanish beeswax vessel in Nehalem, OR.
It's kind of like having a book on your wall, yet it also resembles fine art...only better!!!
Thanks for bearing with me!~
Liz
It's been around 30 years since a shipwreck chart has been undertaken for this region, and there are none that are this in-depth. When I met my friend Bill last Summer, I learned about the piece then (in July of 2007). He had been working on it for over three years, by that point.
I was captivated since I grew up here on the North Coast, and many of these shipwrecks are familiar names to me. There are even a few pieces of them in the little beach cabin my family built before I was born, and we lived in until I was five or so. They really are a part of me.
I helped him proofread the text, which is stories about the sinking of each ship listed. We ended up doing about a dozen proofreads for various reasons, but it blew me away the sheer amount of research he put into it.
THEN, he showed me the list of lost fishing vessels. Of course, the one that jumped off the chart to me was Catherine M, which my nephew and his two deckhands died in 2006. So many of the names on the list were like old friends. Several of them my husband fished on before they sank.
I simply couldn't WAIT to have one of these, so I decided the best way to get one was to be involved in the process as much as possible. I really was obnoxious, probably, but Bill allowed it, and even welcomed the help, I like to think.
The chart covers Pt. Grenville along the Washington coast, and goes to Tillamook Bay (where my nephew lost his boat) along the Oregon coast. The center is the mouth of the Columbia River, which is known as the Pacific Graveyard. It is the deadliest bar in the world, or one of them.
The Coast Guard station there at Ilwaco, WA / Cape Disappointment are known as the "Guardians of the Pacific Graveyard." My brother-in-law, Bernie, was stationed there before he passed away. I know there's a forum member named Mary Lou that had a son stationed there, as well. It's also where some of "the Guardian" movie was filmed. These guys saved Martin by towing him in on his boat right before Christmas. They are paid tribute on the chart, too, in a photo of the earliest Coasties there. The USCG approved the use of their logo, which is featured at the very lowest right corner with a stamp.
This has been a long process just the part that I have known about, let alone what I was unaware of.
I'll show you pictures, but you have to know that it looks amazing in person (it is about 46" tall, framed) The photos are rather large, but I don't know that there's much to be gained from looking at it in a thumbnail. They are quite large in person (the charts):
Here is the framed version. It has photos of some of the shipwrecks along the left edge. There is a photo of the Coast Guard lifesaving station crew on the right, as well some more photos of shipwrecks. The square of paper (it is going to be handmade paper and pressed into the paper using an antique letterpress) with the fishing vessels is on the lower right. In the center is another piece of handmade paper with a list of myths that are related to shipwrecks, some of which may well be true, but in doing the research, Bill could not either find proof nor disprove them, and it was agreed that there may be some basis in truth.
Here is how it looks unframed (as in the lithograph). It is printed on coated paper, and that paper is a nice, thick, quality weight:
I have one of these, too, even though I am getting a framed one, as I want all those extras!
And here is a detail scan of the part that is the mouth of the river, so you can see the ships and the names, their positions:
As you can see, there are a LOT of them. The good majority involve a great deal of lives lost. It is sobering...
The chart itself is based on a survey chart done by Charles Wilkes in 1844, so it looks a little different than an actual navigation chart, but it has a neat appeal and as we all know, the coastline and features change constantly due to erosion and tides, currents and the like, so an actual chart would have been "off" for the time period, anyway.
Sorry this is so long. I am so excited about this project, and have been! There were shipwreck charts pinned to the walls in my little childhood cabins, and in beachcombing, we would often see some of the remains of a few of the ships that are listed. We used parts of them to build the beach house, and decorated the yard with scavenged parts. Now that Martin is a fisherman, they are still a big part of our lives.
I could go on and on, but then again, I am fascinated by the stories, and have even met a few new friends as a result of the research I've done after reading some of the stories Bill put on the chart.
The photo of the framed one is not finished, quite yet, as that is the first prototype. He's still waiting on the handmade paper (the other is a parchment "stand in"), and an element from the Spanish beeswax vessel in Nehalem, OR.
It's kind of like having a book on your wall, yet it also resembles fine art...only better!!!
Thanks for bearing with me!~
Liz
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