Moon Florida Keys by Joshua Lawrence Kinser

Author:Joshua Lawrence Kinser
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Avalon Publishing
Published: 2016-03-17T04:00:00+00:00

S BOATING AND KAYAKING

Given the topography of the Lower Keys, with plenty of open water, beckoning islands, and backcountry channels, this is truly a water lover’s playground and an ideal place for boating and kayaking. To help you explore the region, Strike Zone Charters (29675 Overseas Hwy., Big Pine Key, 305/872-9863, www.strikezonecharter.com, 8am-5pm daily, $59 pp) offers all-inclusive island excursions on glass-bottom catamarans. The five-hour trips combine a breezy boat ride with history and ecology lessons, bird-watching, light-tackle fishing, a fish cookout, and a snorkeling experience amid the offshore coral reefs, part of Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Reservations are recommended.

The Wreck of the HMS Looe

Two islands in the Lower Keys—Ramrod Key and the submerged Looe Key Reef—were named after a pair of sunken ships. Originally known as Roberts Island, Ramrod Key derives its modern moniker from a Spanish vessel that wrecked on an offshore coral reef in the early 19th century. Little is generally known about the ship itself or the circumstances of its demise.

Such is not the case, however, for the HMS Looe, the 44-gun British frigate that inspired the name of Looe Key Reef. According to Bob “Frogfoot” Weller—the author of such books as Famous Shipwrecks of the Florida Keys (1990) and Galleon Alley: The 1733 Spanish Treasure Fleet (2001)—the HMS Looe was outfitted in Longreach, England, with 190 crewmen and spent the first years of her service patrolling the English Channel and searching for Barbary pirates. After her crew captured four Spanish vessels in Vigo Bay, Spain began attacking Fort Frederick in Georgia and harassing British settlers along America’s East Coast. When the governor of South Carolina petitioned to have a warship protect the coastline, Captain Ashby Utting took the Looe on its final voyage.

After the ship reached Charleston, a storm damaged the Looe. With orders to seek out and destroy enemy ships near Florida, the Looe headed to Jamaica for repairs. By December 1743, the ship was again ready to sail, and on February 4, 1744, she was in the Bahama Channel when an enemy ship was sighted. The Looe wasted little time in capturing the Snow, which upon closer examination, turned out to be a British ship, the Billander Betty, which had been taken by the Spanish. The captain decided to escort the ship back to Charleston. Before retiring for the night, he ordered that the lead line be thrown every 30 minutes to sound for depth.

Around 1am, the on-duty crewmen tossed the lead line and found no bottom at 300 feet. Not 15 minutes later, however, the officer of the watch was alarmed to spot breakers directly ahead. A crosswind caught the sails and the stern collided with the reef, and the Looe began to fill with water. Utting ordered that his men save as much of the bread and gunpowder as possible. Meanwhile, the Snow met a similar fate against a nearby reef.

By morning, Utting and his men found themselves on a small, sandy key, which they rightly assumed would soon be underwater.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.