Page 22. MAINE COASTAL NEWS March 2012


Maritime History By Amos Boyd


The brig MELISSA ANN was of 173 tons carrying capacity and her dimensions were 89’-25’-8’. She was built in 1847 by Leander K. Knowles in Jonesport, the only vessel Knowles built there. For the next ten years, Knowles built only in Addison.


After launching, the MELISSA ANN was sold to owners in Machiasport, where under the command of Capt. Kerr, and with his wife aboard, she loaded May 28, 1853 and after taking on cargo at nearby Machias ar- rived 5 days later at New York.


On her return passage, she took on cargo at Boston, for Machias traders, arriving back at Machiasport June 29th


. Ayers was captain


of the MELISSA ANN when she sailed again for New York, making the trip in 8 days, which involved the time of the slow and tedious process of unloading cargo.


the brig was at sea with the wind NNE and a moderate breeze, when the wind suddenly increased to gale force. The crew was aloft immediately, taking in sail; the royal top gallant, flying jib, and double reefed fore topsail. The pumps were checked as well, but were not needed.


On September 13 of that year, the MEL- ISSA ANN sailed again with Captain Kerr and his wife aboard, she was carrying lumber for P. Massy from Jacksonville for New York. On October 10th


Five days later, the gales were still in- creasing, although they did slack off at times and become squally. Soon the main sail split and had to be taken in, while the wind contin- ued ENE. The gales continued for days with considerable force. The fore topsail was taken in and the brig hove to with the main sail and the fore topmast sail close reefed. When the brig lay close on the wind, the main sail was set again. That night at 8 o’clock the fore topmast sail was again taken in, a tremendous sea was running, the heaviest anyone had ever seen.


On October 18th the wind was of tremen-


dous force, blowing a full hurricane. Men working on the decks were in constant dan- ger of being swept overboard by the heavy sea or the wind. They clung for anything they could reach, at times crawling on hands and


The Wreck of the MELISSA ANN of Jonesport


knees to keep from being blown into the heavy seas. That night at 8 p.m. the foretopmast sail was set, with the head leashed.


At 1 a.m. the foretopmast and main staysail were taken in by men in the most perilous danger, and by 3 p.m. pumps had sucked but little water was coming in. An hour later the MELISSA ANN was struck by such heavy weather that she was forced over on her beam ends; then her deck load shifted. The men found the brig would not come right, and they began to cut the main rigging lan- yards. A second sea struck before she could swing upright, and the shock sent the men overboard about 50 feet from the brig. Both masts fell suddenly even to the deck and the vessel righted so fast that the men had great difficulty climbing back on board, only fear gave them the strength.


Mrs. Kerr, the Captain’s wife, a lady much respected and beloved, had been in the cabin when the vessel capsized, and as soon as the men could get on their feet, they went to the cabin, which they found full of water. Mrs. Kerr was alive but had become so weak that her body was forcibly washed danger- ously hard from one side of the cabin to the other. The men put her in a berth, but she died a few minutes later.


Shortly after her death, the cabin again filled with water, trapping the men who found themselves up to their necks in water the sea was making a clean break over the vessel, and soon the men found their heads under water while they were being dashed from one side of the cabin to the other. There were only a few inches between their heads and the cabin ceiling.


Seven men were still alive the next morn- ing, but they were in the most desperate condition, tired already with the long weeks working the brig and suffering from injuries from being thrown overboard – and from hunger and thirst. Thirst was the worst be- cause they were surrounded by water they could not drink. All sailors know the madness that could come from drinking salt water. An 8 pound chunk of meat looked enticing but it had been floating in the sea, and they did not


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dare to eat saltwater soaked meat. About twelve o’clock that night, the wind changed to WSW and the storm abated the cabin itself had been greatly damaged, and the men could see through the holes. Dozens of sharks and other fish now sur- rounded the wreck. As the sea calmed, the trapped survivors were able to struggle out of the cabin and make their way into the light and onto part of the deck. The wreck was drifting, and they were being carried to the SW. The next day a topsail schooner was sighted in the distance, and hope of rescue thoughts cheered the men. However the MELISSA ANN was too low in the water to be seen from a distance, and when a wind from the SW came up. The schooner disappeared into the distance. On the 24th


of October the wreck of the MELISSA ANN was sighted by the brig VIEWS PILOTHOUSE


Continued from Page 7. *****


One good thing about pilothouses, along with the views, was the smell. It could be a combination of some engine room smells, oil skins, rubber boots, paint and varnish, and cleaning products, among others. One that stood out in winter was the smell of the kerosene stove that provided some heat in the pilothouse. The typical kerosene stove had a big more or less cylindrical base for the oil and a cylindrical top with the wick at the base. They’d be maybe two and a half feet tall. The top part had openings to allow air flow. When the stove was lit it had a very charac- teristic smell. When you’d step into the pilot- house with the stove going that would be the predominant smell. Nice, actually. *****


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26' Stamas, built 1970s. Powered with twin Ford 6 cylinders. V-berth, enclosed head and small galley. Great weekender. $6,000


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It was customary to check the smack’s mooring periodically. The mooring would be set “out over the channel” in deep water so that the tide in the Reach would provide circulation for lobsters stored in the well, and so that the smack wouldn’t ground out on the low tide. The mooring was made up of a large block of granite, probably from the quarry on Hardwood Island in the western end of the Reach. The rock would have a large heavy iron staple in it. The heavy bottom chain would be shackled to the staple in the rock. The somewhat smaller linked top chain was connected to the bottom chain with a heavy swivel. The buoy line would be tied on to the top link of the top chain and the mooring buoy tied on to the buoy line. That made up a smack’s mooring, with extra length of chain to allow plenty of scope. When you were check- ing the mooring you’d start near low water. You’d use the windlass to haul up as much chain as you could, and inspect it and the swivel. You’d put a strain on the chain and rock using the engine to make sure all was strong. Dad had the smack GRACE CRIBBY and we were checking her mooring. The big Cummins diesel was idling as we were check- ing the mooring. Dad told me to go down and go back on her. I went down and put the engine in reverse and immediately the smack’s bow raised up and she lurched back- ward. Wow! The mooring underwater had parted! Since the chain was vertical the bot- tom part dropped straight down. We never did find it.


*****


Esten Beal, Jr. was a Beals lobster fisher- man. Early one morning he left his mooring and headed to the sou’west to leave Barney’s Cove and go out around Mack’s Point and through the Gut to go to haul. He was just jogging along, and had started to bait pock- ets. He looked up to check his heading and his spotlight was right on the smack ARTHUR S.


WOODWARD! He quickly looked around to get his bearings. The smack would be moored in the opposite direction from where he was heading... He quickly grasped the situation. The smack’s mooring had parted and she had drifted over to Mack’s point, and was grounding out on the rocks of the point. She was parallel to the shore and if she had listed off and down onto those rocks her hull likely would have been seriously damaged and she could have filled and sunk when the tide came up. Esten was able to get alongside her and get aboard. He had to look for her heavy mooring lines, as they were stowed. He found what he needed, made the line fast to the windlass on the bow and the other end on the stern of his boat. The smack was 60 feet long, 16 feet wide, drew 6 feet of water, and was heavily built, and here she was taking bottom on the ebb tide and starting to ground out on the rocks. Esten’s boat was some 34 feet long, with a powerful V-8 engine. He drew the tow line taught and gunned that V-8. He watched as the smack started to move and he kept her moving until she was free and afloat. He called the Coast Guard in Jonesport and re- ported what was happening, and they called our house and told us. Esten towed the smack in to Uncle J. P.’s wharf there in the Cove and Dad and I quickly went there and took care of tying up the smack. Close inspection of the smack indicated no damage, thank the Lord, and thanks to Esten’s quick and smart re- sponse. The view from his pilothouse that early morning was one of surprise, the sur- prise of seeing a big white smack in a very precarious situation. (The late Esten Jr. and I are among the many descendants of Man- warren Beal, the original settler of Beals Is- land, and of his descendant , the legendary “Tall Barney,” for whom the Cove is named.) *****


In Camden there are schooners that take passengers out for short sails on beautiful Penobscot Bay. I’ve gone out on APPLEDORE and SURPRISE, and we’ve had good air for sailing. On APPLEDORE it was announced that passengers could have time at the wheel. Anyone who knows me very well would tell you I took advantage of that opportunity and had a great time steering that two-masted schooner. I was on SURPRISE, also a two-master. She reminds me of some of the sail smacks of earlier days. I indicated that I’d like to steer, so the skipper gave her over to me. I must have been doing a good job, as the skipper headed down the gangway and said he was going below for a nap. He was joking and came back in a reasonable time. Those vessels do not have pilot houses, so your view from their wheels is open air; up to sails and mastheads and sky, and 360 degrees on the horizontal.


*****


FRIENDSHIP of Harrington. As the brig ap- proached the wreck, the condition of the MELISSA ANN and its pathetic survivors was painfully obvious members of the FRIENDSHIP were shocked at sight of the pathetic survivors, and carried them with great tenderness onto this brig, and treated them with great kindness while they were onboard.


When land was sighted, and a town seen the men of the MELISSA were taken ashore, where they were cared for until they were able to travel further.


Captain Kerr and his surviving crew eventually returned to the sea, the only trade they knew. The abandoned wreck of the MELISSA ANN drifted aimlessly and was last fallen in with off Saint Simmons in Geor- gia, by the brig AGNES on December 19, 1853.


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