YORK — A shipwreck that stranded 14 men on a barren island off Maine 300 years ago will be marked later this month.
A strong winter storm cast the crew of the Nottingham Galley on the rocky shore of Boon Island in December 1710. The crew huddled together under a makeshift tent from one of the ship’s sails. There was no firewood and nothing to eat other than some cheese the ship was carrying. The men resorted to seaweed, seagulls, mussels – and eventually cannibalism.
Ironically, the men could see the distant lights of what is now York six miles away, but couldn’t get there. The survivors spent more than three weeks on the rock.
Foster’s Daily Democrat says the York Historical Society will commemorate the event Dec. 11 at 1 p.m. at Sohier Park near Nubble Light. Speakers will read excerpts from Kenneth Robert’s novel “Boon Island,” a mostly fictional account of the shipwreck.
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