Kayakas!

The townsfolk of Lyme were woken by the loud sound of canon fire reverberating across the bay. Quickly they rushed down to the Cobb, as they knew that a ship was in trouble for the date was 1852 and this was a distress signal. Undeterred by the raging storm that lashed the walls of the Cobb the watching crowd could just make out the distinct shape of a ship that was now beginning to sink; it was the Heroine, a wooden sailing barque on its way from London to Australia.

Her captain had originally sought shelter in Torbay the day before, but when her anchors had failed to hold in the rough seas, she was driven across the bay to the opposite headland shore where she grounded. Still not finished with the ailing ship the raging storm whipped the turbulent sea into such a frenzy that the towering waves managed to lift the Heroine off the rocks pushing her round the headland and dawn of the next day saw her drifting helplessly in Lyme Bay.