AH-WR-0847

Pot Ash Point Canal Boat

Canal Boat · United States · Lost Date and cause of sinking unknown · Lake Champlain

A pre-1862 canal boat carrying quarried stone that broke apart on the lake bottom, opened to divers in 2023 as the preserve system's southernmost site.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

The Pot Ash Point Canal Boat is a pre-1862 class standard canal boat, one of the many unpowered craft that carried bulk cargo across Lake Champlain and through the Champlain Canal. Her identity and the circumstances of her loss remain unknown despite research by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. She sank with a cargo of quarried stone that now lies beneath her collapsed deck. In 2023 she became the newest and southernmost site in the Lake Champlain Underwater Historic Preserve.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: 85 ft
Beam: 20 ft
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: None, towed
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: Date and cause of sinking unknown
Cause: Not established
Location: Southern Lake Champlain, near Pot Ash Point
Water: Lake Champlain
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Quarried stone
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 35 ft
Condition: Bow intact; sides torn away and lying flat on the bottom; deck collapsed onto the final cargo of quarried stone; stern more intact with rudder post and barn-door rudder visible.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Vermont Underwater Historic Preserve (Lake Champlain)

Position

Coordinates: 44.12° N 73.38° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Pot Ash Point, Lake Champlain
Region: Lake Champlain

General area only: coordinate of Potash (Pot Ash) Point from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel, not a surveyed wreck position.