Another eventful day in Sierra Leone

Were there to be surprises? We promised? And there are!!! Robert and Marcin cleaned one of the cannons two days ago and it turned out that there were some marks on the beginning of the cannon, that is on the side where the fuse was fired. More thorough cleaning with a brush and detailed inspection allowed us to… read the date! 1762! So the cannon is 250 years old! We do not know how old the ship is – it could have been old cannons from another ship – then it would be younger than 250 years, but it could also have been renovated and given new cannons – then it would have been built before 1762.

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So far, neither this cast iron section nor several others that we have begun to clean have any more marks – neither coats of arms, nor the founder’s signature, nor the lot number that was often inscribed by the engraver. We hope, however, that in time even more such hints will be found. What can help us a lot in the identification of this wreck, although it is rather a game for long winter evenings than tropical nights on Banana Island, is the comparison of the exact dimensions of the cannon (it is 260 cm long) and the drawing of the “ribs”, the reinforcements which are found on the barrel – with the records from the European archives. All these elements are so characteristic that there is a good chance that we will find out who the manufacturer of the cannon was. With his name and date, it may be possible to search his client list and establish to whom he sold the batch cast in 1762. To a slave trader? Or perhaps pirates?

Yesterday, after starting the compressor with a new, combustion engine, we loaded the cylinders and sailed to look for more information about the origin of the wreck. Unfortunately, the weather turned its back on us – to put it diplomatically! Visibility in the water dropped from 5-10 metres to two! We were like in diluted milk. Nasty conditions for photography. In addition, due to the change of tide, the current was such that every now and then we made jumps in the surf – two metres forward and one back. And back again… and where is my partner? It took a lot of effort to stay in one place. Piotrek was covering the cannon with his legs, Marcin was wedging his leg under the anchor, Robert was hiding from the “wind” between another anchor and another cannon, and Romek was adding weight to his jacket by throwing a stone from the bottom every now and then.

Source: Organiser