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Although the sailing here is not as relaxed or pleasant as
what you will find in Abaco, the excellent nearby diving almost makes up for it.
Many wrecks have occurred on the long stretch of shallow coral known as
the Devil’s Backbone. The strangest wreck of them all is the “train wreck". It
was reportedly part of a Union train, captured by Confederate
troops, which had been sold to Cuba. It
was being shipped there when the wooden barge transporting it ran aground on the
reef during a storm in 1865. Enough
of the train still exists to make it an interesting dive site.
A 200 foot steel passenger steamer, Cienfuegos of the Ward
Line of New York, rests broken up in 10-35 feet, not far from the train wreck.
She crashed into the reef in 1895. You
can still see two large heat exchangers, a large boiler, and the main drive
shaft.
The Vanaheim, an 86
foot coastal freighter carrying a cargo of potatoes and onions smacked the same
part of the reef where Cienfuegos
hit. “Vanaheim” sank in
15 feet during a storm in 1969. Her
rudder lies only five feet from Cienfuegos’
bow.
Other wrecks on Devil’s Backbone include Carnarvon,
a steel freighter sunk in 30 feet depth in 1916; the steel freighter Angletere,
sunk in 30 feet in 1930; and a 76 foot shrimp boat sunk in 20 feet in 1969.
The net effect of all this is that if you can work Spanish
Wells and Harbour Island into your cruising itinerary, you won’t soon forget
them.
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