Shipwreck

One more Hurricane Isaac story – This time from Alabama:

Visitors are once again trying to get a glimpse of a shipwreck along the Alabama coast that is uncovered every few years, most recently by Hurricane Isaac.

The 150-foot ship, which was built in Moss Point, Miss., in 1919, ran aground while carrying timber in 1933 and it subsequently caught fire, was looted and abandoned, said Amanda McBride Hill, an archeologist at the Alabama Historical Commission. The ship was last seen after Hurricane Ike in 2008, and has made periodic appearances along Gulf Shores because of beach erosion, particularly after storms and hurricanes.

"We've known about it for quite some time," Hill said. "Every time a big storm comes it uncovers the ship, and lots of stories go around."

Historical research has determined that the Rachel, the early 20th century schooner, was carrying a load of timber when she went down. In the early 1930s, the maritime and timber industries were booming in the area.

Some locals have maintained that the vessel is a Civil War-era ship, but its rigging places the ship's origins in the early 20th century, Hill said.

The wreckage sits on private property and some nearby homeowners worry about potential liability as people turn out to check out the wreckage.

"It's just something that you really have to go see," Adriana Mutan told Fox10TV.com as she walked around the wreckage taking pictures. "I mean, I've seen so many pictures … heard so many stories and now I've seen it."

Others would just like the ship preserved as a piece of history, but the funding obstacles are onerous, according to Hill.

"It could cost millions (of dollars) to excavate and preserve the ship, and we would need a facility that's big enough to house and maintain it so it does not deteriorate," Hill said. "Like everything, it boils down to money which we don't have.

"I would love for it to be on display so our visitors and residents could learn more about the Gulf Coast history," Hill said.

The good news, she said, is that Rachel sits in a "fairly protected" area of the shoreline.

"It's right here in the intertidal zone, where the waves meet the beach," she said. "That usually provides enough sand to keep it covered."

Over the Labor Day weekend, the shipwreck drew a steady stream of onlookers who arrived to see history first-hand.

"I've always thought it would be kind of cool for them to excavate this thing and move it … preserve what they can and take it to the museum," Gulf Shores resident Billy Berrey told Fox10TV.com. "The last time it was uncovered, people were pulling things off of it."