Last weekend we finally had the perfect fall weather window and were able to do a dive that we have been planning for quite a while. So in honor of Halloween here is the accompanying video from our dive on the wreck of the Sarah Ellen that sits in 300ft of water in Lake Champlain.
The Sarah Ellen was a two-masted schooner that sank in 1860. She was built in 1849 at Isle La Motte, Vermont and was approximately 73 feet long and 15 feet wide. It is estimated that she could carry approximately 60 tons of cargo.
Among the many folklore legends that surround the lake, the Champlain Witch is the one gets attributed most often to the extraordinarily violent storms and unusual weather patterns that befall on the lake. Many superstitious sailors in fact claim she is responsible for the majority of the deaths that occur on the lake and the shipwrecks that now to rest on her bottom.
History claims that the Sarah Ellen was fully laden with Willsboro’s blue stone when she set sail for Vermont on December 19, 1860. She was traveling with another schooner, the Daniel Webster, as they headed east toward Burlington when they encountered a presumably violent storm.
Onboard was Captain Henry Clay, a very young sailor at only 21 years old. He had also brought along his wife of only a couple of months, Lucy Whitney and one crewman, Joseph LaPlante.
It was speculated that she may have sprung a plank with such heavy cargo, or took water over the bow; nevertheless she began to founder. The three people aboard the vessel struggled to free the lifeboat that was covered with ice. Finally managing to get it in the water, they could get not inside but remained clinging to it, as the Daniel Webster attempted to come about for a rescue.
The companion schooner managed to pull LaPlante aboard, but the impact against the lifeboat coming alongside knocked the Captain and his bride free into the water. The Daniel Webster made one last attempt, but the couple disappeared into the freezing and icy water of Lake Champlain before they could be rescued. More victims of the alleged Champlain Witch that is rumored to haunt the lake..
https://www.lakechamplainregion.com/blog/2015/…/haunted-lake
https://www.lcmm.org/explore/shipwrecks/sarah-ellen/
Apologies for the length of this video (8 minutes). I tried to cut it down as best as I could since I realize most people's attention spans on YouTube are only about 3-4 minutes but I had a lot of topside footage.
The Sarah Ellen was a two-masted schooner that sank in 1860. She was built in 1849 at Isle La Motte, Vermont and was approximately 73 feet long and 15 feet wide. It is estimated that she could carry approximately 60 tons of cargo.
Among the many folklore legends that surround the lake, the Champlain Witch is the one gets attributed most often to the extraordinarily violent storms and unusual weather patterns that befall on the lake. Many superstitious sailors in fact claim she is responsible for the majority of the deaths that occur on the lake and the shipwrecks that now to rest on her bottom.
History claims that the Sarah Ellen was fully laden with Willsboro’s blue stone when she set sail for Vermont on December 19, 1860. She was traveling with another schooner, the Daniel Webster, as they headed east toward Burlington when they encountered a presumably violent storm.
Onboard was Captain Henry Clay, a very young sailor at only 21 years old. He had also brought along his wife of only a couple of months, Lucy Whitney and one crewman, Joseph LaPlante.
It was speculated that she may have sprung a plank with such heavy cargo, or took water over the bow; nevertheless she began to founder. The three people aboard the vessel struggled to free the lifeboat that was covered with ice. Finally managing to get it in the water, they could get not inside but remained clinging to it, as the Daniel Webster attempted to come about for a rescue.
The companion schooner managed to pull LaPlante aboard, but the impact against the lifeboat coming alongside knocked the Captain and his bride free into the water. The Daniel Webster made one last attempt, but the couple disappeared into the freezing and icy water of Lake Champlain before they could be rescued. More victims of the alleged Champlain Witch that is rumored to haunt the lake..
https://www.lakechamplainregion.com/blog/2015/…/haunted-lake
https://www.lcmm.org/explore/shipwrecks/sarah-ellen/
Apologies for the length of this video (8 minutes). I tried to cut it down as best as I could since I realize most people's attention spans on YouTube are only about 3-4 minutes but I had a lot of topside footage.
