The day was September 9th, 1965. Gale force
winds from Hurricane Betsy whipped the normally calm seas off Singer
Island into a frenzied nightmare of 20-foot breakers and 80-mph winds.
Palm trees leaned horizontally away from the onslaught, but many
uprooted and were sent soaring by gusts of unthinkable velocity.
A lone ship struggled against uncertain odds. The
Amaryllis was nearing the safety of the Palm Beach Inlet, but found
itself being literally blown into the shallow waters less than a
mile from the beach. The crew made desperate attempts to compensate
for the winds and the storm damaged steering, but the gale force
winds were too much and the foundering ship grounded on the shore
immediately in front of the Rutledge Inn.
As dawn broke, so did the fury of the storm. Where
last night had been a beautiful beach, now rested the storm beaten
wreck of the Greek banana freighter, Amaryllis. As the day went on
it soon became evident that that this great 450 foot ship would be
resting here for some time.
Shortly thereafter, local surfers found the ship
to be one of the most spectacular surf spots in the area. A little
more than three years later, the foundered ship was finally removed
from the beach, and towed out to its final resting spot about one
half mile from shore in about 75 feet of water. |
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