I sang for the Seaport Shipwreck!

I talked my way in to this morning's press conference, sang a chantey for the CEO of Skanska Construction and met the Boston City Archaeologist. I dedicated a verse of Fire Maringo on behalf of the USS Constitution Museum and Northeast Chanteysings to the unknown wreck discovered this week in Boston's Seaport District.

This 50' sloop from Maine was carrying heavy barrels of highly combustible lime that are charred on top to suggest she burned to the waterline before sinking in the Dorchester Flats between 1850 and 1880 (when the Seaport DIstrict was first filled in). 

There is a photogrammetry crew from Venice here this week scanning her hull for a 3D digital model, after which she will be moved (and will disintegrate) so construction can resume. 

City Archaeologist Joe Bagley says the model will be available to the public for detailed archaeological study, and it should be possible to 3D print the ship at any scale! He says this is the most important maritime archaeological find of his lifetime. 

You can see her hull here, 25 feet below present ground level. She makes you think about what's beneath your feet in any seaport town.