11 October 2026:
Nasty weather, after a pleasant week and a big Nor'easter the previous week, is back as the remnants of Hurricane Isaias [Ed: fortunately this is written as no one can pronounce that name!] runs to the northeast bringing rain and some (not strong) winds. But in the spirit of the weather, we bring you a piece from FOX WEATHER about a shipwreck on Nantucket uncovered during the recent nor'easter.
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NANTUCKET, Mass. - As a powerful nor’easter lashed the East Coast, relentless wind, rain and waves triggered colossal coastal erosion on Nantucket, unearthing a piece of the island’s maritime history.
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| The Warren Sawyer wrecked off Nantucket around 11 p.m. on Dec. 22, 1884, while carrying a cargo of cotton and scrap iron. |
A large section of a shipwreck was spotted Saturday along Nantucket’s south shore on the beach near Point of Breakers and the Sewer Beds, where relentless waves caused significant coastal erosion.
The wooden wreckage is believed to be part of the 19th-century schooner Warren Sawyer, which ran aground near Miacomet Beach on Dec. 22, 1884, the Nantucket Current reported.
The doomed ship was traveling to Boston from New Orleans, hauling a cargo of cotton and scarp iron when it was blown off course by gale-force winds.
A newspaper account chronicled the 1884 shipwreck and the heroic efforts that saved every member of the crew.
According to an account published in The Inquirer and Mirror in 1945, Patrolman Eugene Clisby spotted the schooner’s lights near Miacomet Rip and rushed to the Surfside lifesaving station to call all hands.
The Warren Sawyer wrecked off Nantucket around 11 p.m. on Dec. 22, 1884, while carrying a cargo of cotton and scrap iron.
The surf was raging, surrounding the schooner and leaving only its masts visible in the darkness. Capt. Veeder fired a line toward the vessel’s jibstay, but the crew was too weakened by the cold to move forward and secure it.
During a brief lull in the waves, Patrolman Williams ran down the beach and used a hand line to send another line over the schooner’s bow. The sailors crossed the sea-washed deck and secured it, allowing the lifesaving crew to attach a hawser and rig a breech buoy.
The rescue was made more difficult by the schooner’s violent movement in the surf, but the experienced lifesavers worked through the night.
By the morning of Dec. 23, every member of the Warren Sawyer’s crew had been safely brought ashore, the newspaper article recounted.
This isn’t the first time Nantucket’s historic shipwreck has made an appearance on the South Shore beach.
The storm uncovered a section of the Warren Sawyer in the same area where pieces of the schooner resurfaced in December 2022.
More than a century after the schooner wrecked, the nor’easter’s powerful waves have once again surfaced the remnants of the lost vessel from beneath the Nantucket sand.
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Sometimes nasty storms can offer us surprising discoveries. And there is a lot of history along our shores - and those of other countries - just waiting for Mother Nature to show us a glimpse of what is waiting.
And by the way, Maritime Maunder has now reached just short of 720,000 readers. Will we hit one million? Who knows, but wow! Amazing!
Until next time, stay safe!
Fair Winds,
Old Salt
