Clydesdale Plantation Wreck, USA
Burial - 1780 - 1810
Excavation - 1992
Tons of clay excavated by hand - 90
Alligator sightings - average 4 per day
Hull - 13.4 m (44 ft) long; 5.1 m (16.7 ft) wide
Tonnage - 20 tons burthen
"The lightning stopped and the thunderclouds moved off down the river. We loaded the boat with our shovels, notebooks, and cameras and prepared to go home. Everyone clambered in, I put the motor down and turned the key, and was greeted by silence. Not even a click or buzz. The downpour had shorted the electrical system. Our mechanical wizard, Charlie Harris, tried every trick he knew, but the motor was dead. I hate outboards.
If we did not want to spend the night in the swamp, we had to walk down the river to the nearest road, about a mile away. So, with the sun setting and the tide rising, we half-walked and half-swam in the chest-deep water until we could climb out of the river. We were held up near the end by a pair of alligators that disappeared into the sawgrass just ahead of us, but as darkness fell we had reached civilization again and were glad to be out of the mud. The next day, we returned to the boat, pushed it into the water, changed the battery, and started it on the first try. I really hate outboards." - Fred Hocker
Source
Hocker, Fred. "The Clydesdale Plantation Vessel: Savannah River, South Carolina," in "Beneath the Seven Seas," edited by George F. Bass, pp. 192-3. New York and London, 2005.
