A sulking schooner fell in with the British blockading squadron during December of 1813. Biting wind and freezing spray calloused a sunwashed seascape. Harsh winter light cast stark lines across the sleek vessel making her appear even sharper than she already was. Lieutenant Murray gently tacked the Mosquidobit and kept communication flowing up and down the line of British schooners, sloops, and frigates. Today things were quiet. Hardly a word was passed on deck to maintain the evolutions. No new sails, no news, nothing to do but pace the ship within its assigned box. Back and forth, back and forth, flags hoisted up, fluttered down, log kept, deck swept. Piercing cold wind kept Lt. Murray’s gaze down to clear wind tears from his eyes and thoughts wandered to this recently built ship, one of the fastest in the squadron and once a proud privateer known as Lynx. Only a few months prior, she had fallen into British hands at the mouth of the Rappahannock River and ended her role as a patriot combatant.

Continue reading "A Tour of Lynx" »

Field School student Katie Kelly, of the University of Indianapolis, enters the water with a giant stride, to participate in the excavation of the 18th century Storm Wreck. Katie was presented with the 2010 David Switzer Young Pioneer Award, which is awarded to the field school student who best exemplifies the qualities of hard work, dedication, and teamwork.

This is the final installment of a three-part blog focusing on our 2010 summer field school activities. As usual, it has been very busy here during the post-fieldwork season, so its been a while before I've had a chance to get back and re-visit those great memories from the summer's fieldwork.

Part I of this blog focused on the initial training of our 2010 field school students, including intense zero-visibility diving training in the pool, and also on the initial preparatory work on the site of the Storm Wreck, an 18th century shipwreck discovered during the previous year's field school. Part II focused on the diving investigation of the Bayfront Ballast Pile, a site located in the harbor off St. Augustine's waterfront. We had switched focus to that site when we were faced with mechanical problems with our primary research vessel, Roper. Once the Roper was fully repaired, courtesy of Ring Power Marine Services, we were ready to return to the offshore ocean environment, to begin excavations on the Storm Wreck. After being away from this colonial period wrecksite for a week, excitement has built, and we are all eager to begin excavations and make discoveries . . .

Continue reading "LAMP's 2010 Field School a Success for Both Teachers and Students, Part III" »

Lynx's ship's boat sailing to the Lighthouse.

The schooner Lynx, 'America's Privateer', brought their ship's boat over to the Lighthouse for routine maintenance and some repairs. Our boatworks is happy to take on this project and support the active preservation of maritime history in our port. Take a look at this video to see the smallboat rowing and sailing over to us!

Click HERE to view the video.

And click HERE to learn more about the LAMP Boatworks program!

Click here to see video posted from the conference recently attended by LAMP's Brendan Burke. See the left-hand side of the screen for videos you can select to see highlights from the keynote address, and other highlights of the conference.

The R/V Desmond Valdes underway along the bayfront during the Regatta of Lights.

This past Saturday evening the 30th annual Regatta of Lights was hosted in Matanzas Bay. Along the bayfront a festive throng gathered to view and enjoy illuminated boats from our port. Twenty-eight vessels participated this year with the Black Raven acting as the grand marshal. Three cannon shots from the Castillo were loosed and the dark pirate ship responded with two of her own. That was the signal for the parade to begin.

Continue reading "Regatta of Lights 2010" »

Please vote to support this project by texting 104881 to PEPSI (73774) once a day during the month of December!

Students in Flagler College's Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) have come up with a creative way to help the homeless by tapping into an unused by-product of Florida's international maritime trade--shipping containers. As the keepers of our region's maritime heritage and because of our ongoing commitment to service in our community, we at the St. Augustine Lighthouse, LAMP, and the First Light Maritime Society have joined Flagler College to support this project, which is seeking funding from a Pepsi grant to enable these students to transform abandoned shipping containers into homes for the homeless while providing vocational training and a sense of purpose to at-risk individuals.

We need your help! Flagler's SIFE students are competing for the Pepsi grant and we need your votes to drive them into first or second place by the end of December. Momentum is building, as this project has jumped from 276th to 24th place in just two days! The general public is invited to vote up to once a day during the entire month of December! You can text your vote in as listed above, or you can visit www.refresheverything.com/containersforacause and vote there. Please support this great cause and vote every day from now until New Year's Eve!

Read more about this exciting project below the fold!

Continue reading "You Can Help the Homeless--with a Maritime Spin!" »