The Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-08-26, Page 11CO1i1mt,117ItNews
Squalls doomed the Clark
Having last week learned about the in-
credible feat of raising the schooner
Alvin Clark after more than a century on
the bottom of Lake Michigan's Green
Bay, we'll now relate the incident that
put her there in the first place.
The Clark was built in 1846 by Joseph
Keating at what is now Trenton, Mich.,
just south of Detroit. Like many of the
lake schooners of her day, she was built.
mainly of oak. Today, these ships are
recognized as a type distinct to the Great
Lakes. They were shallow draft because
they had to make theirway into many
small ports. Centreboards were used to
help stabilize the vessel when heeling in a
wind.
Called a topsail schooner, the Clark
had two raked masts with both
squaresails and fore-and-aft mainsail on
the foremast. She measured just over 106
feet with the bowsprit adding con-
siderably to her overall length, and her
beam was almost 24 feet. She could carry
about 8,000 square feet of sail. Unlike the
ocean-going sailing ships of the day, now
familiar as "tall ships", the Clark and
her sisters had blunt bows, presumably
to give them greater cargo capacity
within the hull.
John P. Clark, an entrepreneurial fish
trader in Michigan, had the Clark built to
transport fish and supplies to and from
his operations and to earn revenues from
general cargoes such as lumber from the
northern shore and salt, possibly from
Goderich. He had the new schnooner
named after his son Alvin.
On June 29, 1864, the warm early sum-
mer weather over the upper lakes sud-
denly gave way to a series of freakish
squalls from the northeast. Sailing light
under command of Capt. Durnin, the
Clark had just passed throug Death's
Door Passage between Lake Michigan
and Green Bay and was making for the
small lumber port"of Oconto, Wis., about
50 miles further on. Besides the captain
and mate, the schooner was manned only
by two able seamen and a working
passenger. One seaman was Michael
Cray from Toronto. Said to have been an
adventurous young fellow, Cray had serv-
ed in the American Union Army.
With fair weather. the captain had
THE
SHIPWATCHER
By Dick With,
ordered the hatch covers removed and
the hold swept and aired out by Cray and -
has mates. The ship had sailed westward
more than half way across Green Bay
when the weather changed. What follows
.is probably a mixture of informed conjec-
ture and Cray's recorded recollections.
When the northeast squall struck the
Clark, the skipper put the helm down to
avoid jibing. The ship, carrying more sail
than the tiny crew could reduce in a
hurry, heeled sharply, nearly putting her
rail under as the men frantically tried to
cut lines and let the wind spill from the
canvas. The next gust roared in before
much could be done, the upper sections of
mast snapped and crashed down creating
a tangled mass on deck.
The schooner was now broadside to the
wind. As the squall strengthened, the
crew could do little amid the wreckage of
rigging. The Clark heeled before the
squall, rolled far enough for water to
pour through the open hatches, and she
filled until only the stern was awash.
It was over in minutes. The storm ceas-
ed abruptly and a nearby schooner that
had witnessed the tragedy sent a
yawlboat to pick up survivors. Only Cray
and one other, by clinging to the main-
mast shrouds, were saved. The rest of
the crew drowned.
It was hoped the wreck could be
salvaged, but before a tug and equipment
had arrived from Buffalo the schooner
had disappeared in 19 fathoms of water.
There she lay forgotten for 103 years un-
til diver Frank Hoffman discovered the
wreck, and raised the nearly perfectly
preserved ship in 1969.
As mentioned last week, credit for
publishing the above details must go to
Wooden Boat magazine. The sadly
deteriorated wreck of the Clark was
reported sold by Hoffman recently. and
we can only hope this unique relic will
now be professionally preserved.
The main
Goderich Beach
as it used to
look years ago
Beach development
The town of Goderich has spent time and
money to develop and implement a master
plan for the waterfront area. The new
South Beach, created over the past two
years, has become of the favorite summer
swimming 'spots and thousands of swim-
mers have taken advantage of the sandy
beach during the hot weather. The new
beach is reminiscent of the Goderich Main
Beach, which boasted a lot of sand in years -
gone by, as evidenced by the above
photograph. Can anyone tell what year the
photo was taken. It obviously depicts a
scene at the Goderich Beach, when the
beach area had a lot of sand.
GOI)EP►CH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, ,AUGUST 26, 1987—PAGE 11
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