Was fishing while I was down the week of the tropical storm. Fishing about 2-300 yards east of the broken road in Ft. Morgan. http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6357&stc=1Noticed these out in the surf. What are they?
Printable View
Was fishing while I was down the week of the tropical storm. Fishing about 2-300 yards east of the broken road in Ft. Morgan. http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6357&stc=1Noticed these out in the surf. What are they?
I don't know what the structure was for, but there used to be several pilings driven there.
There are cypress stumps and knees a little farther east, but I don't think that's them.
Edit: There's a large (135' x 20') structure visible 275 yds east of the road on the latest Google Earth. It is large enough to be concrete, maybe an old pier.
Here is an image. Older Google Earth only showed the round posts.http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6359&stc=1
Thank you I appreciate that. !!
Overview and corrected length.http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6360&stc=1http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6361&stc=1
Well, the length is not corrected on the pic., but I estimate it about 135 feet long.
15 or 20 years ago, we fished those structures. For flounder. That road was rough, but not near rough as it is now. A couple of years after that, we couldn't find it and decided that our enjoyment of adult beverages had confused us about where the structure was. There was good fishing around it, and some structure below the surface where you snagged easily, but it was fun. Wish I knew why we didn't see it the next time we went.
Based on Google Earth I would say ot was shifting sand. This most recent picture is the only one that shows the big structure in the last 25 years.Quote:
Originally Posted by bodebum
Here it is in 2012.
http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6366&stc=1
2006 it is under the beach sand.
http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6367&stc=1
Shipwreck?
I think it's a barge. Been there for decades. Sand shift covering and uncovering it from time to time. 20 years ago a buddy of mine fished it regularly and always did well.
The two posts are in the right position to be bollards if that's the back end, but if it's a barge it is an unusual size - some kind of special purpose, not a standard bulk carrier. I used to be in charge of two barge loading facilities (coal) on the Warrior and I've loaded and unloaded coal at McDuffie, and it's not like any we ever saw.
If it's 135 feet wide it's 4x the width of a standard bulk carrier. Maybe some kind of floating dock that sank, but if it were a dock it would have more bollards. The posts look too big to be bollards (ca 5 ft).
Measuring again it appears to be 150 x 20 - odd.
I'm not saying it's not a barge, but it's a danged unusual size. Nothing here matches it.
Barge Weight Capacities Chart | Heartland Barge
I think I will get the fins and mask out some day soon.
Actually, its not what I was thinking of. Looking at Google Earth, what ever it is was buried under the dunes back in 1997 when my former colleague fished down there.
Its in the red box on the bottom middle, 1997:
http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6368&stc=1
Same shot, in 2016:
http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...tid=6369&stc=1
The structure we fished was wooden, no steel that I recall.
That sounds right,.
There are a number of old wooden barges and ships washed ashore along the Fort Morgan Peninsula. From what I understand, most are early 1900's vintage.
Sometimes storms, shifting dunes and changing shorelines expose them, other times they are covered up.
My former colleague described the structure fished as being piling and rocks. I imagine it was wood & ballast from an old barge like this one.
There is a rather large area of scattered ballast stones about 1/4 mile SW from this site.
But it's 15 to 200 yards off the beach in 9'-12' deep water.
Wish I could flounder fish around that. Seems it could be like a dream I would like to have.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pier#r
There used to be a concrete pavilion back in the day there. Also there's a pile of old barges and ships down there. That's the arm pit of mobile bay it catches a lot of crap
Mystery solved - It's the CSS Ivanhoe. Thanks, Pier#r.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1411...1370036599909/
Yes, the recent storm waves & currents 'unburied' it...
https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net...1f&oe=5C06E5DB
Schematic of CSS Ivanhoe (a Civil War blockade runner)...
https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net...a1&oe=5C32C5B9
Kudos to Dreas Aj Andreasen for the pics!
Reading up on the Ivanhoe, she was not a CSS (Confederate Steam Ship), she was a privately owned blockade runner owned by a William A. Boyle of London, registered in London, England.
And the drawing is a drawing of the Fergus and The Dare which were other Clyde-built blockade runners thought to be similar in design although built by a different builder (Alexander Stephens and Sons).
No pictures of the Ivanhoe are known to exist.
FWIW
Edit: I've spent more time than I should have looking for info on the Ivanhoe, but I did find one interesting fact. Another vessel, the Red Gauntlet (same gross and net tonnage) was built by the same shipbuilder (Scott & Co) and was trapped in Mobile Bay when the Battle of Mobile Bay commenced. The Red Gauntlet traveled up the Tombigbee to Gainesville where it was eventually surrendered to Union forces in June of '65.
If there are going to be any pictures of a vessel like the Ivanhoe, finding out what happened to the Red Gauntlet is a good bet, but I think I am done with it for now.
http://clydeships.co.uk/view.php?yea...vessel=IVANHOE
http://clydeships.co.uk/view.php?yea...l=RED+GAUNTLET