NORFOLK SURVEY WEEKEND 13th-14th AUGUST 2011
All NAS members, not just those in East Anglia, are welcome to participate in an intertidal survey weekend concentrating on three separate wrecks, the Vicuna, a barquentine stranded in 1883, the Vina, a steam coaster with intact boilers wrecked in 1944, and an unidentified wreck, probably a local 19th Century sailing vessel, discovered last year by the NAS East Anglia group.
No diving is required as the survey work is timed to take place at low water when these vessels are exposed. This weekend offers participants a great chance to build up their field work experience.
This weekend aims to extend the previous survey work undertaken by the NAS in Norfolk which, in the case of the Steam Trawler Sheraton, has resulted in five Part II projects. This weekend also offers excellent opportunities to undertake record collecting for Part II survey projects.
Please contact the NAS Office if you wish to take part
Sheraton Survey - Intertidal wrecks of Norfolk
The Steam Trawler Sheraton was built in 1907 for fishing and was later used for boom defence work during World War I and served as a patrol vessel in WWII, for which she was fitted with a six pounder gun. During a gale in 1947 she broke free of her mooring and drifted onto the beach at Hunstanton. Much of the Sheraton was salvaged but the bottom of the hull remains on the beach in the intertidal zone.
The Sheraton represents a historic phase in deep water trawler construction as metal replaced timber. No design drawings remain but the one surviving photograph of the Sheraton at sea and plans of contemporary steam trawlers show a vertical stem, counter–like stern and finely drawn underwater section, all of which were legacies of the sailing era and contributed to the fine sea keeping quality of these vessels. The survey has confirmed that the hull was constructed with ferrous metal plates over ferrous metal runners and ribs, held together with rivets, and with some internal wooden framing (possibly to support the decks and superstructure).
The site of the Sheraton has been adopted under the NAS Adopt a Wreck Scheme and survey work carried out in 2007 and 2008 included a tape measure and laser survey, a photomosaic and drawings and photographs.
To watch a video of the work being carried out during the 2008 field survey, click on the link below.
Previous Survey work
 Previous survey and excavation work has been undertaken on sites in the Hunstanton area in 2009 and 2010. This has included completing photomosaics, drawings, planning frame and offset surveys as well as an EDM survey of ballast blocks that were strewn across the beach.
 We hope that at some point a Norfolk-based museum will consider a Sheraton exhibit, perhaps including the mast section if a suitable conservation strategy could be devised. Judging from the interest displayed by people walking along the beach at low tide, an exhibit would undoubtedly be extremely popular.
For more information on the site of the work undertaken in the Norfolk area, please visit the project website
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Projects 
