Abstract

The investigation of shipwreck frame tips, exposed by low water levels along the shore of Lake Huron led to the discovery that two vessels - from different periods - were buried in the same location under the sand of a Southampton, Ontario, beach. One of the vessels was a stone-hooker work barge from the 1870's period of harbour construction in the Southampton area. In order to protect the work barge from intermittent exposure and wave damage on the beach, it was fully excavated in the spring of 2007, lifted by crane and moved to a new, deeper resting place further north on the beach. This paper describes both the excavation and the complex task of lifting, moving and reburying the vessel. It also illustrates how the detailed recording of the vessel has provided what may be the only existing record of how these sturdy little workhorse vessels - ubiquitous on the Great Lakes in the era of sail - were constructed.