On 12 January 1909 Sybil Marston, the largest steam schooner built on the United States West Coast, struck the rocks near Surf Beach, California and ran aground in a storm. She was carrying 1,100,000 board feet (3,000 m3) of lumber. Two crew members were killed in the disaster.
Surf Beach and its adjoining coastal area was a dangerous place for ship travel in the time before radar navigational systems made seafaring safer. There are about 30 recorded shipwrecks along the Surf Beach coast.
Ghost ship reappears Jan 29, 2006
From time to time, the merchant steamer Sybil Marston emerges from her watery grave at Surf Beach.
During times of extreme low tide, her hull glistens in the morning sun while Pacific Ocean waves caress her deep red hardwood beams. Her bow still holds together after nearly a century in the pounding ocean waves of the Central Coast.
The ocean treats her much more delicately than it did one stormy night on Jan. 12, 1909, when the ship struck the rocks near Surf. It was on that night the Sybil Marston, the largest steam schooner built on the coast, ran aground in a storm. She was carrying 1.1 million feet of lumber, according to shipwreck historian Justin Ruhge in his book “ Tragedies on the Santa Barbara Channel.C Two crew members were killed in the disaster, Ruhge said.
Shortly after the Sybil Marston disaster, Lompoc residents would come out and salvage lumber and souvenirs from the ship, he said. Several houses built in Lompoc used lumber from the shipwreck, said Lompoc historian Myra Manfrina, adding that most are long gone. The house on 326 South H Street was built in 1909 by Robert Smith and that has 12-by-12 timbers from the wreck in the basement,C she said.
Sources:
19th Century Shipbuilders on the Pacific Coast”. Shipbuilding History. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
Santa Maria Times – Ghost ship reappears
*Noteworthy
1866 – The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London.\
1908 – A long-distance radio message is sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time.
1911 – The University of the Philippines College of Law is formally established; three future Philippine presidents are among the first enrollees.
2004 – The world’s largest ocean liner, RMS Queen Mary 2, makes its maiden voyage.