SEA WITCH & DE BRAAK WRECK

THE SEA WITCH AND DE BRAAK WRECK

A 1935 expedition to find the HMS DeBraak wreckage and

the treasure it was said to have as cargo,    was shaken by the appearance

of the Sea Witch, aka Weather Witch, the first week in November,   a 

week of unusually harsh weather which was obvious to the superstitious

sailors in the crew aboard the refitted New England pilot schooner, The

Liberty, now working as the salvage ship of Charles Colstad out of

Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Yes, it was said, the DeBraak was being protected by The Sea

Witch.

The sailors aboard the old schooner Liberty made up an effigy

of the old hag, long gray hair streaming from her tall peaked black hat,

with a flowing black cape, on a broomstick.

To exorcise the demon, the effigy, was given a position of honor

in the ships cabin, offered food and drink, then burned in the galley cook

stove, the ashes gathered and cast to the sea in hope of calming the waves.

Failing to do so, the hunt for the DeBraak was shut down for the

winter.

The following summer Colstad's Liberty and crew returned to

the Cape Henlopen waters and after a month of searching, The Sea Witch

returned as a full fledged hurricane that drove the salvage vessels onto

the beach, forcing Colstad to abandon the search.

Sea Witch had earned a permanent place in the Cape Henlopen

Delaware coastal sea lore, yet  to return year to year to an annual Halloween

Festival.

Abstract: Harrison H, 10/23/18 from Michael Morgans, Sussex

Journal October 24 2018, source September 19, 1932, New York Times.