Legacy Notes & Full Historical Record

This section preserves the original unedited Shotline content for this wreck so that no historical detail is lost as we transition to the new logbook format.

Type: Wooden two-masted square-rigged bay schooner (later auxiliary motor vessel)
Lengths:

• Length: 94 ft ≈ 28.7 m
• Beam: 25.3 ft ≈ 7.7 m
• Depth of hold: 6.5 ft ≈ 2.0 m deepworld.org

Deaths: No known loss of life associated with final disposition at Sodus Bay (one earlier death from disease while in service) deepworld.org
Location: Krenzer Marine basin, inner Sodus Bay, Sodus Point, New York, USA – south shore of Lake Ontario
Depth: Extremely shallow, roughly 1–3 m (3–10 ft); sections visible from the surface in clear, low-water conditions deepworld.org
GPS (site centre): 43°16’05″N, 76°58’57″W (≈ 43.2681° N, -76.9825° W) deepworld.org

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Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

The Eugie is the largest of three wrecks lying inside Krenzer Marine in Sodus Bay. Modern side-scan sonar and imagery from Exploring Our Deep World show a substantial wooden hull pinned against the remnants of an old iron ore dock, with structural framing and planking lying nearly flush with the soft bottom. deepworld.org

The site is:

• In very shallow water inside an active marina.
• Bounded by dock posts and modern marina infrastructure.
• Frequently visible from the surface when water levels are low and the bay is clear. deepworld.org+1

Deep World’s research identifies this hull as the schooner Eugie, based on dimensions, construction details and a reconstruction of her final sale and retirement at Sodus Bay. deepworld.org+2internationalmaritimelibrary.org+2

Because of the shallow, congested setting and heavy boat traffic, this is not a routine dive site. Any in-water work (snorkel, freedive, or scuba) should be treated as controlled documentation/archaeology and only undertaken with the permission of Krenzer Marine and local authorities.

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CONSTRUCTION & OWNERSHIP

Name: Eugie
Type: Wooden two-masted square-rigged bay schooner (later auxiliary motor vessel)
Registry: United States
Year built: 1872
Builder / Place: Church Creek or Dorchester County, Maryland, USA (wooden centerboard schooner) deepworld.org+1

Principal dimensions: deepworld.org+1

• Length: 94 ft (28.7 m)
• Beam: 25.3 ft (7.7 m)
• Depth of hold: 6.5 ft (2.0 m)
• Gross tonnage: 94 tons

Hull is wood, with a centreboard and traditional Chesapeake-style rig and layout.

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SERVICE HISTORY

1872–c.1923 – Chesapeake Bay freight schooner

From her launch in 1872 until the early 1920s, Eugie worked primarily in the lumber trade throughout Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC, with recorded cargoes including: deepworld.org

• Lumber
• Oysters
• Coal
• Granite
• Fertilizer

In 1895 she helped supply the construction of the Hog Island Lighthouse, carrying materials for what was then one of the brightest lights on the U.S. coast. deepworld.org+1

Incidents documented in newspaper and port records include:

• 1908: Rigging damage in a storm when another schooner was blown into her, breaking off the flying jibboom. deepworld.org
• 1910: Major repair and recaulk in dry dock at Alexandria; hull found sound and returned to service. Later that year her young captain, Edward Meekins (22), died from typhoid fever contracted while aboard. deepworld.org

1923–1927 – Rebuild, sinking and conversion to motor power

• 1923: Sent to a shipyard for extensive rebuilding after ~51 years as a working schooner. deepworld.org
• 1924–1925: Sank near Thomas Point within a year of rebuilding; a diver reported the hull in good condition and she was raised and returned to port. deepworld.org
• 1926: Fitted with a 120 hp oil (diesel) engine by new owner H. B. Chase of Palm Beach, converting her to an auxiliary motor vessel. deepworld.org

1927–c.1932 – Miami–Nassau passenger vessel & “fish museum”

By 1927 Eugie was operating as a passenger and small cargo vessel on the Miami–Nassau route, occasionally carrying freight. deepworld.org

Under Captain R. H. Green, she was outfitted as a floating fish museum, carrying:

• Over 500 preserved specimens, including
• A 45-ft (≈13.7 m) whale shark weighing about 15 tons. deepworld.org+1

Captain Green planned to tour northern ports with the exhibit. Newspaper coverage describes this “fish museum” venture in some detail. deepworld.org

Captain Green died in 1932, and Eugie‘s history becomes fragmentary. Reports indicate:

• Sale to interests in Rochester, New York,
• A resale back to Green’s widow,
• Final sale in 1935 to Stuart (“Stu”) Sill Sr. of Sodus Bay. deepworld.org+1

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FINAL DISPOSITION AT SODUS BAY

After purchase by Stu Sill Sr. around 1935, Eugie was:

• Stripped of usable machinery and fittings, then
• Secured to the Iron Ore Dock in Sodus Bay, on the shoreline that would later become Krenzer Marine. deepworld.org+1

Over time:

• The dock structure and surrounding shoreline were redeveloped into the present marina.
• Eugie‘s wooden hull settled in shallow water alongside the dock piles and was gradually degraded by ice, traffic and time. deepworld.org+2historicsoduspoint.com+2

Today, sonar, drone imagery, and in-water observation show:

• A flattened but coherent hull outline with internal framing visible.
• The wreck directly associated with rows of timber posts from the former ore dock. deepworld.org+1

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CURRENT CONDITION & DIVE NOTES

• Depth: ~1–3 m (3–10 ft); some structure may be within a metre of the surface in low water. deepworld.org
• Substrate: Soft sediment with scattered hull timbers and dock debris.
• Hazards:
  • Active marina traffic (boats, lines, propellers).
  • Dock posts and piling remains – high snag/impact risk.
  • Extremely shallow – risk to both boats and divers/snorkellers.

For safety and to protect the site, documentation is best via remote methods (drone, pole camera, ROV, careful sonar) and tightly controlled, permitted in-water work.

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SIGNIFICANCE

Eugie‘s story is unusual even by Great Lakes standards:

• Built as a Chesapeake Bay lumber schooner,
• Rebuilt and converted into a motor passenger vessel in Florida,
• Transformed into a floating fish museum with a 45-ft whale shark exhibit,
• And finally retired as a derelict hull in a small Lake Ontario bay where she still lies beneath the docks. deepworld.org+1

As a wreck:

• She illustrates the migration of working vessels between coastal, Caribbean and inland waters.
• The Krenzer Marine site captures how such hulls were repurposed and abandoned during waterfront industrial change.

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REFERENCES & LINKS

• Exploring Our Deep World – “Krenzer Marine Shipwrecks” – primary modern site survey, imagery, and historical reconstruction. deepworld.org
• Ingerson, Betty – “The Demise of the Eugie” (Sodus Bay Historical Society / GP Marina site) – focused account of the vessel’s final years and retirement at Sodus Bay. deepworld.org+1
• International Maritime Library – EUGIE – registry card (1872 centreboard schooner, Church Creek/Dorchester Co., MD). internationalmaritimelibrary.org
• Sodus Bay Historical Society / Lighthouse Museum – regional maritime context and archival support. sodusbaylighthouse.org+1

Plus standard Shotline references: Maritime History of the Great Lakes, Great Lakes Ships / HCGL, David Swayze Shipwreck File, NOAA and related databases.

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SHORT DATABASE ENTRY

Name: Eugie – Krenzer Marine Schooner Wreck
Waterbody: Sodus Bay, Lake Ontario
Type: Wooden centreboard schooner (later auxiliary motor vessel)
Built: 1872, Church Creek or Dorchester County, Maryland, USA
Dimensions: 94 × 25.3 × 6.5 ft (28.7 × 7.7 × 2.0 m), 94 GRT
Status: Abandoned / partly buried wreck, inside active marina basin
Position: ~43.2681° N, -76.9825° W (Krenzer Marine basin)
Depth: ~1–3 m (3–10 ft)
Loss / Disposal: Stripped and secured to Iron Ore Dock at Sodus Bay c.1935; left in place during subsequent marina development.
Notes: Part of the Krenzer Marine Shipwrecks cluster (with an unidentified tug and hopper barge). Primary modern documentation by Exploring Our Deep World in collaboration with Shotline Diving. deepworld.org+1