Owner Sibyl Marston Co. Tonnage 1,020 GT (est.) Length 66 m | Fate Sank 12 January 1909 Installed power Triple expansion steam Builder W.A. Boole & Sons | |
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Sibyl Marston was a wooden schooner cargo ship built by W.A. Boole & Sons of Oakland, California and belonging to the Sibyl Marston Co. Sibyl Marston sank off of the coast of Lompoc, California on 12 January 1909.
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Overview
On 12 January 1909, Sybil Marston, the largest steam schooner built on the United States West Coast, struck the rocks near Surf Beach, California and ran aground in a storm. She was carrying 1,100,000 board feet (3,000 m3) of lumber. Two crew members were killed in the disaster.
Shortly after the Sybil Marston disaster, Lompoc residents salvaged the lumber and used it to begin a town lumberyard. Several houses built in Lompoc used lumber from the shipwreck.
Surf Beach and its adjoining coastal area was a dangerous place for ship travel in the time before radar navigational systems made seafaring safer. There are about 30 recorded shipwrecks along the Surf Beach coast.
Location
The shipwreck is located 1 mile (2 km) south of the Surf Amtrak Station in Lompoc.