More information : During a heavy NW gale during the morning of the 27th, this vessel was sighted off Bude flying signals of distress. Between noon and 1pm, the tide at half-ebb, the SEA ZEBRA ran for the harbour, dropped to leeward, and struck a sandbank at the back of the breakwater. Her five-man crew took to the rigging and at low water were rescued by the breeches buoy. The vessel was insured for only one-third of its true value of £1,500 and quickly became a total loss after her foretopmast and mainmast collapsed. (1)
NB: This vessel appears in error under the BOLINA of 1807. The only items relevant to the BOLINA appear to be the date of loss, 03-NOV-1807; the tonnage, 181, identical to the BOLINA, and the date of building as 1803, identical to the date that the BOLINA was hired. The place of loss, Bude breakwater, is particular to the SEA ZEBRA, the BOLINA having been wrecked near Perranporth.
From the text above, the SEA ZEBRA was not wrecked in 1807, and for convenience it is assumed that the error arises from the common error of transposing the last two digits of the year, viz. 1870. The name of the vessel itself, SEA ZEBRA, is more consistent with circa 1870 than circa 1807; her involvement in the Swansea to Devoran trade similarly suggests the later period; Bude Breakwater was constructed in the 1820s, and the use of the breeches buoy is also consistent with rescues circa 1870 - it had not been invented in 1807.
There is some discrepancy regarding the date. The date is given as 03-NOV, but this is also one of the various dates given for the BOLINA, and in the text it is suggested that the date is the 27th [month unspecified]. The information may be reconciled by suggesting that the vessel was wrecked on 27-OCT-1870 and that a report appeared in a newspaper on 03-NOV-1870, which would have been a Thursday - at this period local newspapers frequently appeared on a Thursday.
Built: 1803 [although this may relate to the BOLINA] (1)
Master: Edby (1)
Crew: 5 (1)
Date of Loss Qualifier: Approximate date of loss |