5/25/2009 A good article published in The Western Star today about the search for the Henry Ford, a schooner famous for racing the Bluenose. The Picture above shows the Henry Ford racing the Bluenose.


No success yet, but search to continue for historical shipwreck off Norris Point print this article

NORRIS POINT
ASHLEY FITZPATRICK
The Western Star

Divers looking for the boat that beat the Bluenose have not yet found the shipwreck, but are also not ready to give up the search.

The true name of the boat is the Henry Ford. It is a fishing schooner built in Essex, Mass. Part of the Gloucester fishing fleet as of 1922, the Henry Ford was named for the famed American automaker and raced against the Bluenose to victories on more than one occasion. The victories, however, were never considered official.

In 1926, the Henry Ford was lost in a shipwreck. It is believed by divers with Newfoundland’s Ocean Quest Adventures to have struck a reef in the Bonne Bay area.

The site is known locally as Whale Back or Whale’s Back Ridge.

Over the Victoria Day long weekend, the team from Ocean Quest, along with interested guests, entered the waters around Whale’s Back Ridge and began a search for remnants of the Henry Ford.

Andrew Hiscock, an archaeologist with the team, said high winds and high waves impeded the search on Friday and Saturday.

On Sunday the crew had better luck, with the weather co-operating enough for five dives (about 45 minutes each), with 10 divers in the water, said Hiscock. That was not enough time. “We searched about one third of the reef,” he said.

The search yielded no treasures. Yet, because so little of the reef was covered in this trip, the Ocean Quest crew has determined it will head back to the reef in June to try to complete the search. If it still cannot cover the area in that time, Hiscock said, an additional return trip will likely be planned.

“We’re excited to head on back,” said Hiscock, who has researched the Henry Ford for the last seven months and selected the general dive area.

Hiscock said the Henry Ford has historical significance. He said the captain of the Henry Ford, Clayton Morrissey, was also captain of the Effie M. Morrissey for a brief period. The Effie M. Morrissey was the ship Bob Bartlett sailed in his Explorer Club and National Geographic adventures. It is the ship being rebuilt for this year’s Bob Bartlett celebrations. Effie M. Morrissey is also the sister of Clayton Morrissey.

Hiscock has maintained a blog including some of his historical research findings on the Henry Ford and notes on the search at the Ocean Quest Adventures website. He believes that the Ford will be found, even if it is not fully intact. “If we had a full day on it, we could search the entire area and I think we’d find something,” he said.

Yet even with the absence of a find, Hiscock said the area around the reef was worth the trip and hopes to have the team highlight it in future tours offered by the recreational dive company.

“It’s a kilometre out and you can see the bottom as clear as day,” he said. “It’s amazing.”

During dives on Sunday, the team was able to capture images of dramatic sea stars and even wolffish living in rocky hideaways. The striped wolffish is endangered.

“One of the biggest draws of the area — it’s called the wall. It’s a sheer drop down to depths you can’t dive on compressed air,” said Hiscock. “But the wall is just teeming with stuff, with life.”

Hiscock said Ocean Quest Adventures will be including a dive in the Bonne Bay area in the upcoming Atlantic Canada Challenge. The challenge, essentially a recreational dive tour, will include a marathon exploration of dive points from Port aux Basques to Conception Bay South and is a joint project between Ocean Quest Adventures and Marlin Diving Enterprises Inc. in Cape Breton.