Gorda Cay In 1654 the Spanish
Galleon Jesus María de la Médica Concepción, also known as
El Capitan - as it was the lead vessel in the fleet, sank off the coast of Ecuador. The ship was hauling 3 million pesos of silver, 2,212 ingots, 216 chests of coins, and 22 boxes of wrought silver. Silver salvaged from the ship by the Spanish was taken to Cuba and loaded upon the
Nuestra Senora del la Maravilla, but it too sank on January 4, 1656. In 1844, the
Pantheon encountered
gale force winds causing it to lose its sails, and for a fire to break out. The ship ran ashore near Gorda Cay, and burnt to the waterline. The crew were rescued by the
Water Witch. In 1846, the
Brig Monument of Portland was sailing to
Matanzas, carrying a cargo of boards, shooks, and fish, when it "was totally wrecked on Gorda Cay." The cargo and materials were recovered, taken to
Charleston, South Carolina and sold. In 1884, the ship
George B. Douglass was sailing from
Roatán for Nassau, when it was caught in a heavy storm and developed a leak. Captain Anderson and his crew escaped in
lifeboat. "Shortly after they had pushed away from the schooner she gave a lurch to one side and then disappeared." The crew were drifting off Gorda Cay when they were found by the
schooner Isle of June and towed to Nassau. On August 12, 1928, the SS
Munamar owned by
Munson Steamship Line, ran aground on Gorda Cay and was unable to free itself. The passengers were removed Monday, August 13, by the tug boat
Lady Cordeaux. Monday, August 20, it was reported the ship was successfully refloated. Gorda's airstrip (now Castaway Cay Airport) was once used as a stop in the 1930s for bootleggers and later,
drug runners. In 1934, reports started circulating of ancient gold coins and earthen jars being found on the island.
Otis Barton conducted dives around the island investigating claims of sunken treasure, but turned up nothing. In 1950, two men, Roscoe Thompson and Howard Lightbourne, uncovered a 72-pound silver bar with a casting mark of 1652, from the seafloor near Gorda Cay. News of the discovery was withheld until after it could be authenticated. The silver bar was sold by the men to Albert E. Worswick, who then donated it to the Bahamas Development Board, where it was then displayed at the tourist information center. Author John Alden Knight notably visited the island in August 1953 to catch
bonefish. In October 1953, it was heavily reported that author Harry E. Rieseberg discovered the wreck of
El Capitan, off the coast of Gorda Cay. In actuality, it was the
Madama do Brasil Roscoe Thompson and Howard Lightbourne, doubting the publicity behind Rieseberg's discovery, returned to Gorda Cay in 1956 to continue their search for the lost treasure of
Madama do Brasil. In 1954, Gorda Cay was promoted as an island to visit for good fishing opportunities. Afterwards, a fishing competition was held around the island in 1956. In 1958, a film entitled
Treasure of Gorda Cay entered production, with a story written by
John Steinbeck, The brain child of producer
Kevin McClory, it was to star
Burgess Meredith.
Juano Hernandez scouted additional filming locations in North Carolina. McClory was unable to raise the funds for the film, and it never came to fruition. On November 11, 1961, Captain Julian Harvey of the
Bluebelle, took the ship's guests, the Duperrault family, to visit Gorda Cay. Notoriously, on November 12, he would commit
mass murder, with only the family's 11-year old Terry managing to survive. Gorda Cay had also been used for filming. The beach where
Tom Hanks first encounters
Daryl Hannah in
Splash is on the island, The
pier and its approaches (a 1,700 foot channel) were constructed to allow Disney ships to dock directly alongside the island, thus removing the need for
tenders to get the passengers ashore. ==Facilities==