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“The sun disappeared and the wind increased in velocity coming from the east and east northeast. The seas became very giant in size, the wind continued blowing us toward shore, pushing us into shallow water. It soon happened that we were unable to use any sail at all…and we were at the mercy of the wind and water, always driven closer to shore. Having then lost all of our masts, all of the ships were wrecked on the shore, and with the exception of mine, broke to pieces.” —Miguel de Lima, owner of the Spanish ship Urca de Lima which sunk near present-day Fort Pierce in 1715 Florida’s reefs were never kind to early sailing ships. Wreckages literally line Florida’s east coast, especially southeast Florida because the Gulf Stream lies closer to land than in any other part of North America. The most famous shipwreck was a Spanish fleet laden with gold and silver from Mexico and Peru in the vicinity of Sebastian Inlet in 1715. It was called the Plate Fleet since it carried large quantities of silver, plata being the Spanish word for silver. [Read More…]
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