 "The
Graveyard of the Gulf " By Terry Dwyer St. Paul Island is located approximately 14 miles northeast of the northern tip of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, and 40 miles southwest of Cape Ray, Newfoundland on Canada's rugged East Coast. This island is commonly referred to as the "Graveyard of the Gulf". The island lies at the entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the gateway to Upper Canada. St. Paul Island is known to be the second most dangerous island in northeast Canada, possibly in all of northeast North America. Its layout is the complete opposite of the shifting sandy dunes of Sable Island. Instead, razor sharp, jagged rocks, concealed by mist and swell, guard every approach to St. Paul Island. The island is only three miles long and one mile wide. It is a mountainous island with high cliffs and there are only two areas on the island where a safe landing can be negotiated. The frigid water surrounding the island drops off quite rapidly near shore. The variable tidal streams and currents add to the danger arising from the ever-present fog. St. Paul Island is subject to dramatic and unpredictable weather, there are sudden rain and snow squalls and the wind can change direction without any warning as often as five times in one day. On most days through out the year the entire island is shrouded in a blanket of haunting fog and mist. In short, this rocky outcrop can be a mariner's worst nightmare.  Early records seem to indicate
that St. Paul Island was discovered and named by John Cabot in 1497. It
may even have derived its name partially from Saint Paul whom, while on
his way to Rome as a prisoner in the year 60 AD, was shipwrecked on the
island of Malta at a place known today as St. Paul's Bay. For this reason
he is considered to be the paitron saint of shipwrecked sailors.The island has an ominous history that is filled with actual events of unimaginable terror and disaster. There are over 350 recorded shipwrecks and several thousand people buried on the island in unmarked graves. Many immigrant ships on route from Ireland and England wrecked on St. Paul Island. On board these packed vessels were hundreds of families and all their personal possessions. For many of them the promise of a New World meant an early grave. In the last 300 years of sea faring, no one knows for sure how many additional ships simply disappeared or were wrecked on St. Paul Island with no one nearby to offer assistance, or to even to know they disappeared into the depths of the Atlantic. The land surrounding Atlantic Cove would be but a huge cemetery if stones marked all the graves that are scattered there. Unfortunately, there are no such markers, or even crosses, left to identify the thousands who are buried there. If you look closely however, there are some signs that indicate the presence of graves.  A short distance
to the northeast of Atlantic Cove, and on somewhat high ground, a cemetery
is located, marked by the ruins of an old fence. Buried in this plot lie
the remains of 199 passengers and crew from the British Transport ship,
"SOVEREIGN" wrecked on October 18, 1814. The "SOVEREIGN" was en route
from England to Quebec. She had on board 186 soldiers, 9 officers, 2 servants,
21 women, 19 crew and a sizable cargo of Mexican silver dollars. Only
thirty-seven people lived to tell the tale. So many bodies washed ashore
from the "SOVEREIGN" that extra men were brought in from the mainland
to partake in the gruesome recovery work. On the southeast side of Atlantic Cove lies a fairly flat stretch of land that contains the graves of over 300 Irish immigrants whose ship the "SIBYLLE", bound from Cromarty, Ireland to Quebec, wrecked on St. Paul Island on September 11, 1834. It was said that in order to bury the dead, long trenches were dug and a sort of wholesale burial was carried out. If you look closely at a map of St. Paul Island, very near where the Southwest light now stands, there is a place called "JESSIE COVE". So named after the three masted barque "JESSIE" out of Prince Edward Island, which wrecked on St. Paul Island during a violent snowstorm on January 1st, 1825.  Miraculously
the entire crew and passengers survived the shipwreck. They managed to
climb the jagged ice covered rocks in a blinding snowstorm, in sub zero
conditions and make their way to land, clutching what scarce provisions
they could salvage from the wreck. In an attempt to attract the attention
of the people living in Cape North, the survivors built great fires made
from driftwood and wreckage night after night. A few stragglers saw these
signals of distress, but they were powerless. The "Gulf of St. Lawrence" had become blocked with heavy pack ice a few days after the ship went ashore, hence no friendly vessel passed near the Island until death had claimed them all. The ship's owner a Mr. Mac Kay was on board when the "JESSIE" wrecked. Mr. Mac Kay kept a journal in which he recorded the harsh sufferings and tragic demise of the crew. (Part of this journal may be viewed today in the Historical Museum of Boston Mass.) The last entry was made on March 17, 1825, two and one half months after the "JESSIE" had wrecked. Mr. Mac Kay was the last person to die. In a cruel twist of fate, twenty-three men had been saved from a cold and watery grave only to die a more horrifying and unspeakable death from starvation and exposure while they waited for help- that never came. What private and personal hell each man must have went through.  How the
saga of the "JESSIE" became known is even more remarkable. In the early
1800's, in April of each year, French fishermen from Cheticamp and the
Magdalen Islands went over the ice seal hunting. They used to call upon
St. Paul Island to specifically salvage shipwrecks that may have occurred
over the winter. A vessel from Cheticamp visited St. Paul Island and found
the dead bodies of the crew of the "JESSIE". The owner Mac Kay, who was
the last one to die, was wrapped in a richly made cloak and this was taken
off the body. In the fall of that year one of the fisherman visited Charlottetown,
wearing Mac Kay's cloak. The widow of Mr. Mac Kay met him on the street,
recognized her husband's coat, pulled it open and inside found her husband's
initials sewn in by her very own hand. She at once alerted the authorities
and the fisherman was immediately arrested. On his person was found 108
guineas of Mac Kay's money, of which he was supposed to have taken a large
sum. The fisherman was able to explain satisfactorily to the authorities
how he came into possession of the cloak and the money, he gave up all
he had and was released. The widow immediately dispatched a vessel to
the St. Paul Island to recover any bodies. The vessel succeeded in locating
and recovering only three bodies, including Mac Kay.In spite of countless disasters of astounding proportions and constant stories making headlines in newspapers around the world, thirteen years would come to pass after the wreck of the "JESSIE" before the Imperial Government finally erected two lighthouses on St. Paul Island. In 1838 one lighthouse was erected at the northeast tip and one at the southwest end of the island. A main rescue station stocked with provisions for shipwreck victims was built in Atlantic Cove near the middle of the island.  Today,
if you examine a map of St. Paul Island, you will find that nearly every
place on the map is named after a shipwreck that foundered there. Names
like Norwegian Head, Viceroy Cove, Jessie Cove, Sovereign Cove, Isabella
Cove, Glenroe Cove, Brunett Cove, Moon Point, Barbara Rocks, Aurora Rocks,
and Money Rocks are all so named after the shipwrecks that have occurred
there. The diving on St. Paul Island is physically demanding, strenuous and at times psychologically challenging. The water surrounding the island is ice cold; the currents are strong and ever present. Diving here is very much a team effort and it requires discipline, experience, skill and commitment. You are totally dependent on the team and on a chase boat (zodiac) to pick you up after a dive. There is no shore diving what so ever from the island, only boat diving. This type of diving is not for everyone. Then there are the logistics of actually getting to and from the island. A journey to St. Paul Island will take six hours by road (Halifax to Dingwall), then a further three hours by boat (one way) out to the island. Once on a return trip to the mainland, the weather turned bad and it took us five hours to make port. During another expedition, the "Meg and Kel" was engulfed in a sudden and violent rainstorm, during the night the wind changed direction 5 times. Our three anchors dragged and in a matter of minutes we were almost on the rocks. In the dead of a pitch black night, with the sea ragging all around us, we had to cut our lines with a fire axe, abandon our anchorage and make a run for the north side of the island. Minutes passed like hours as the "Meg and Kel" battled mountainous waves, high winds and heavy rain for the two hours that it took to find shelter on the north side of the island. That night served as a harsh reality check and a reminder to stay alert.  Be advised
that St. Paul Island is not an island to be taken lightly, if the unpredictable
weather turns on you, it can be a hellish place. The logistical requirements
are formidable and the planning for an expedition of this magnitude takes
months. For wreck divers and underwater photographers, the prize for challenging the elements and braving the logistics, is underwater visibility that often exceeds 100 feet in all directions and an enormous untapped potential for the discovery and exploration of virgin shipwrecks. Divers visiting St. Paul Island will experience the unprecedented opportunity to view first hand, a seabed littered with the broken bones of hundreds of forgotten shipwrecks. On subsequent dives we have found huge pieces of steel ships in the form of boilers, engines, steel plates, anchors, propellers, etc. We have also discovered cannons, cannon balls, bronze spikes, dead eyes, and other pieces of old wooden wrecks from the 1700's.  If you like shipwreck diving East
Coast Canadian style, where the water is cold yet crystal clear. If you
are up for the daily challenges and don't mind roughing it on a remote
and uninhabited desolate island off Canada's rugged East Coast, an expedition
to St. Paul Island is for you. Make no mistake, the diving is spectacular,
but it is a privilege you will earn. It is a once in a lifetime experience.
It's hard to imagine what future expeditions are going to discover. The ice-cold waters preservative qualities make St. Paul Island a virtual time capsule of marine technology. It is a place where nature has remained undefeated; the contrasts are stark, the beauty is unsurpassed and it appears today almost exactly as it must have appeared 300 years ago. The underwater and surface photo / video opportunities are in a word "EXTRAORDINARY". A one-week expedition to St. Paul Island will allow the participant between 18 and 21 spectacular dives. For those of you who are up for a great adventure and a chance to dive into history, you will not be disappointed. For more information on expeditions to St. Paul Island and other diving excursions in Nova Scotia, E-mail Terry Dwyer at: shipwrecked@ns.sympatico.ca Interesting Links pertaining to St. Paul Island:
http://www.ednet.ns.ca/educ/heritage/nslps/st_paul1.htm http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/6001/index.html TOP |
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