What
Did the Ship Look Like?
 Archaeologists
and maritime historians have a general idea of the ship's appearance, based
on measurements and other discoveries during the excavations. They know that
the schooner was 62 feet long and almost 18 feet wide. It was built
primarily of white oak and had two masts.
Because the
wreck is incomplete—lacking deck and masts—some details must be taken from
other ships of the period. Artist Peter Rindlisbacher painted this picture
of what the Millecoquins schooner might have looked like under sail. This ship
had a top speed of about 10.5 knots—not much more than 12 miles per
hour.
The Eastern Carolina
University archaeologists determined that the schooner's deck had
been burned off. Notch marks in these charred timbers made them think that
someone—local people or other fishermen—set the fire to make it easier to
retrieve iron spikes and other useful hardware from the wreck.
Unfortunately, the loss of the deck makes accurate calculation of the ship's
tonnage (carrying capacity) impossible and identification of the schooner
more difficult.
According to William
Ives's 1849 report, the masts were broken when he saw the wreck, but their
stubs were still upright. The ECU team found evidence of where the masts had
stood, but no pieces of the masts themselves.
In the
1830s, schooners outnumbered steamers five to one on the Great Lakes.
Sailing ships were less expensive to build and maintain than steam-powered
ships. However, schooners had the disadvantage of depending on the wind for
power.
 A recreation
of half of the ship provides a backdrop for the Schooner in the Sand
exhibit. The recreated hull is based on measurements of what was left of the
wreck. It is as long as the original ship, but only half as wide.
The ship's
hull included berths for crew or paying passengers in an aft cabin, the cargo
hold and a captain's quarters in the stern. Archaeologists found nearly all of the vessel's dishes and food containers in the stern cabin, so
the ship's small crew may have eaten there as well. There was white paint on the ship's bow when it was first
exposed. The drawing by T. C. McCutcheon for the Association for Great Lakes
Maritime History shows the arrangement plan of the hull.
Who Sailed this
Ship?
Excavation
of the Millecoquins wreck uncovered no clues to the identity of the men who
sailed it. On similar schooners in this period, the captain was often a part
owner or the son or brother of the owner. A vessel this size needed only two
or three additional crew members. Often these men had family ties to the
captain or came from the same town.
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