BY ADAM FERRELL AND KYLE STOCK
Of The Post and Courier Staff
After losing two-thirds of its employees to layoffs last year and losing its park manager last month when he resigned, Charles Towne Landing State Park has suffered another blow. This time, its ship has gone down.
The park's reproduction 17th century trading vessel, the Adventure, sank Monday.
Luckily it's moored in Old Towne Creek where the water is not too deep. It's partially submerged in about 12 feet of water at high tide.
The park had planned to pull the boat out for a two-year complete restoration that could cost about $300,000, according to Marion Edmonds, spokesman for the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
A team of park officials, engineers and a diver will inspect the ship today to locate the leak, he said. The ship was fine Sunday, so park officials assume it started taking on water Sunday night and slowly settled to the bottom.
"When it's left unattended for 12 hours at a time, even a small leak can bring it down," Edmonds said.
Built in 1970 in Cambridge, Md., the 53-foot-long wooden Adventure was part of the tricentennial celebration at the park. It has since served as an interpretive site, a place where visitors can see how early traders lived.
The ship sank in 1999 and was repaired after planks suffered damage from a species of worm.
It will be rebuilt with traditional materials and methods used in the 17th century.
"It is such a popular part of the historic site that we think the restoration will be of interest to people too," Edmonds said.
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