The BONEYARD
The 1715 Treasure Fleet was a fleet of Spanish ships loaded heavily with treasures heading to Spain.
On the evening of July 30, 1715, seven days after departing from Havana, Cuba, eleven of the twelve ships were lost in a fierce hurricane near this spot in Vero Beach.
Of the 2,500 men, women and children aboard, over 1,000 perished while others survived on lifeboats or were washed ashore.
The coast was littered with wreckage and bodies, and the survivors of this horrific tragedy found themselves stranded without food, fresh water or medical supplies in a place infested with rattle snakes, wild animals, hostile Indians and disease carrying mosquitoes.
While efforts to make camp and salvage the wreckage continued, many of the sick and injured were dying each day, adding to this unthinkable maritime disaster.
A makeshift memorial, referred to as the Boneyard, is here at the festival to remind us of those who were lost along with the 1715 Treasure Fleet.
Visit the Boneyard here at the festival and pay your respects to those who lost their lives more than 300 years ago!
On the evening of July 30, 1715, seven days after departing from Havana, Cuba, eleven of the twelve ships were lost in a fierce hurricane near this spot in Vero Beach.
Of the 2,500 men, women and children aboard, over 1,000 perished while others survived on lifeboats or were washed ashore.
The coast was littered with wreckage and bodies, and the survivors of this horrific tragedy found themselves stranded without food, fresh water or medical supplies in a place infested with rattle snakes, wild animals, hostile Indians and disease carrying mosquitoes.
While efforts to make camp and salvage the wreckage continued, many of the sick and injured were dying each day, adding to this unthinkable maritime disaster.
A makeshift memorial, referred to as the Boneyard, is here at the festival to remind us of those who were lost along with the 1715 Treasure Fleet.
Visit the Boneyard here at the festival and pay your respects to those who lost their lives more than 300 years ago!
