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In Barnstable Bay

Typical of the hundreds upon hundreds of shipwrecks that have occurred along the great hook of Cape Cod is the sinking of the schooner Almira.

In the winter of 1827, with a bitter northeast wind blowing and occasional showers of snow, the schooner Almira put out of Sandwich Harbor with a load of wood. The captain laid a course for Plymouth Light, about fifteen miles or so up the coast, but could make no headway against the wind.

All afternoon he tacked back and forth, taking white water which froze on the decks and rigging under the iron sky. At last, wishing to make the most of the waning light, the skipper turned tail, and made a run for Barnstable Bay (aka Barnstable Harbor).

Around the end of Sandy Neck he swept, but onto a ledge, where he stove and filled. The only man found alive when the northeast wind had abated was at the tiller, his feet caught fast in ice. So the whole crew perished, almost within sight of their homes.

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