A different kind of buried treasure...
The waters off the coast of the Outer Banks have certainly earned the nickname "The Graveyard of the Atlantic." Since the early 1500s, well over 1,000 ships have ended up in Davy Jones' notorious locker. The remains of these shipwrecks litter the sea floor and sometimes wash up on shore. The treacherous shoals and strong currents along the Outer Banks are the stuff of legend.
One of Sun Realty's homeowners recently stumbled upon a significant piece of the Graveyard of the Atlantic's history. Fortunately, Bob Hill knew enough about maritime history to see that the "piece of wood sticking out of the sand" was a truly important discovery.
Read Bob Hill's account of uncovering a piece of the oldest known 
shipwreck ever found on the Outer Banks...
Last April, I read a newspaper article about a shipwreck that was found in Corolla (about 15 miles north of our Duck, NC vacation home). It had wooden dowels and holes instead of metal parts, and experts dated it to be from around 1650. The remains of the hull were uncovered, but experts explained that many pieces of the ship had broken off.
When we visited our Duck rental home in May, I saw a piece of wood barely sticking out of the sand while walking on the beach. After digging around for a few minutes, I noticed that it had wooden dowels and some unusual carvings. I was sure it was part of a very old shipwreck. I called around to several groups and no one seemed to be interested. I finally talked to the director of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum who asked me to send pictures. Two days after sending the photos, the director flew down from Boston to get a first hand look.
The director of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, an archaeologist and I started to dig the wood out of the sand. The more we exposed, the more 
excited they got. All in all, the piece of wood ended up being 15 feet long. They pointed out a seam in the wood where you could see that it had been glued together with tar and horse hair. (Wow - horse hair from 1650!) They compared the find with various pictures and reports they had from another shipwreck. The experts were convinced that it was part of the beam of the Corolla shipwreck that was recently discovered. In fact, those unusual notches and holes are the way the piece was attached to another piece of the beam.
The next day, the archaeologist showed up with another individual from the Federal Park Service and a flatbed trailer. I went up and down the beach to gather all the strong young studs I could find to help lift it on to the flatbed. After a lot of false starts, we were finally able to get the artifact onto the truck and off it went to the museum.
Since then, archaeologists have moved the shipwreck date all the way back to 1609. Put that into perspective... 
This ship sailed just two years after the founding of Jamestown and OVER 150 YEARS BEFORE THE SIGNING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE! The experts now say this definitely is the oldest shipwreck ever found on the Outer Banks.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never forget. Please enjoy the photos I took to document the adventure. I look forward to sharing more information once archaeologists uncover more about this piece of Outer Banks history.
~ Bob Hill
Owner of "Eagle's Nest/The Round House" and "Endless Summer"
Read more:
Virginia Pilot - More pieces foundhttp://hamptonroads.com/2010/07/ship-pieces-found-nc-may-be-old-shipwreck Virginina Pilot -3/17/10 Photos and Videos Virginina Pilot - 4/7/10 Photos and Videos: Virginina Pilot - 6/4/10 Photos and Videos: CNN Article - 6/7/10 and Photos: WRAL - Ship remains found off NC: Importance of Corolla shipwreck discovery - Joe Schwartzer - Dir. Grave Yard of the Atlantic Museum: Richard Lawrence Conversation - Department of Cultural Resources, State Office of Archaeology, Underwater Archaeology Branch Head Oldest shipwreck in NC: Corolla Shipwreck on the Outer Banks: Corolla shipwreck moving day: Mapping and surveying the Corolla wreck:
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/03/shipwreck-may-be-oldest-north-carolina-coast?cid=omc
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/04/crew-works-save-oldestknown-shipwreck-nc-coast?cid=omc
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/06/nc-shipwreck-speculated-be-ghost-1609
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/05/oldest.shipwreck/index.html?hpt=C2
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7744461/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q723Fbb_fqw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXOVpe1AvyM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUUYVikQgdY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26OiA2L1yqM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUkWlfvbhfg&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLf3ei89gmc&feature=related