The waymark coordinates are for the entrance to Fort St. Catherine, since our GPS started having difficulty seeing enough satellites inside the fort. This plaque is located at the entrance to the Fort St. Catherine Museum.
The plaque reads as follows:
"SHIPWRECK OF VIRGINIA SETTLERS
Near this spot the SEA VENTURE, flagship of the third Virginia Supply, under command of Captain Christopher Newport, was wrecked on 28 July, 1609, bearing Sir George Somers, Sir Thomas Gates, and other settlers en route to the colony established at Jamestown on 13 May 1607. Here on the rediscovered isle they built two ships of cedar, the DELIVERANCE and the PATIENCE, which took them in May 1610 to Jamestown. They arrived in time to succor the settlement, from which grew the overseas expansion of the English-speaking peoples; the Commonwealth of Virginia; the United States of America; and the British Commonwealth of Nations and Realms Overseas.
Given by the Commonwealth of Virginia on the 330th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement."
More on the wreck of the Sea Venture can be found on the Bermuda Attractions website: (
visit link)
"Sea Venture
Sunk in July 1609
This ship Sea Venture had actually started the history of Bermuda and brought in the first settlers in the island. They were all originally headed for another English colony, but were forced to land in Bermuda due to a severe storm. Here is the story of Sea Venture:
In July 1609, Sir George Somers had started with a fleet of 9 ships from Plymouth (England) towards the new English colony Jamestown in Virginia. He was carrying settlers and food supplies for the new English colony. As a chief commander, he was aboard the lead ship (or the flagship) called the Sea Venture. There were 150 sailors and settlers aboard the vessels, and a dog. The fleet was caught in a severe storm. The sailors were somehow able to spot the east-end reefs of Bermuda (near St. George) and were able to steer the ship towards the rocks. The ship got wrecked on the reefs. But luckily all the men on board were saved including the dog :-)
The survivors later built two new ships - The Deliverance and The Patience. The Deliverance was constructed primarily out the materials stripped from the Sea Venture itself. After having constructed the two new vessels, all of them set sail again for Jamestown. Nearly 350 years after the Sea Venture got wrecked, Edmund Downing set out to find the Sea Ventures remains in 1958. He found a wreck in 30 feet of water.
The Smithsonian's, Mendel Peterson and the legendary Bermuda diver Teddy Tucker were called to verify the site. They unearthed a stone jug, a clay pipe, and a vase and confirmed that they belonged to the period when the ship was sunk. They also took timber measurements and concluded that this was indeed the vessel that had brought Bermuda's first colonists.
And with these colonists, the history of Bermuda started that traces back to the year 1609.
UPDATES: There is a new monument built in St. George Bermuda in memory of the survivors of the Sea Venture. Read Monument for Sea Venture to know the details."