Shipwrecks of the Yukon Gold Rush

Speaker: Sean Adams, Archeological Surveyor and member of the Yukon Gold Rush Steamboat Survey.

Sean will report on the Survey’s 2013 field season.  The Survey is an ongoing project of the Institute of Nautical Archeology. The 2013 season included:

·         An assessment of the bustle stern of the 1898 steamboat Victorian at West Dawson.

·         A detailed hull survey of the 1898 steamboat Tyrrell at West Dawson. Tyrrell was one of three rare composite-hulled vessels ordered by the CPR for a proposed Stikine River route into the Yukon.

·         A side-scan search for the 1898 stern-wheel steamboats Mona and Glenora burned in 1902 at Steamboat Slough upstream of Dawson City. Two promising and adjacent targets were located, but poor visibility (<5 cm) and current made direct inspection unsafe. These sites will be inspected in 2014 with a drop camera;

·         A "proof-of-concept' aerial mapping project using a small drone

This will be an exciting report of leading edge technology with a fascinating and important part of Canadian maritime history.