The Valencia Shipwreck on the West Coast TrailWilliam Gosling Valencia Survivor

The Valencia Disaster

 Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail1. The Valencia Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail2. The Voyage Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail3. The Boats Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail4. The McCarthy Boat Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail5. The Bunker Party Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail6. On the Valencia Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail7. The Rafts Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail8. The Turret Raft Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail9. The Rescue Ships Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail10. The Aftermath Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail11. The Survivors Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail12. The Lost 

The West Coast Trail

Shipwreck on the West Coast TrailPrologue Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail1: The West Coast Trail Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail2: When to Hike & Fees Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail3: Trailheads Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail4: Getting There Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail5: Considerations Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail6: Campsites Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail7: Shipwrecks Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail8: Routes Shipwreck on the West Coast Trail9: Sights & Highlights

William Gosling Valencia Survivor

 

William Gosling was a seaman on the Valencia who survived on the McCarthy Boat.  The morning after the Valencia wrecked, the one remaining lifeboat was successfully launched with six volunteer crewmen under the command of boatswain Timothy McCarthy. The goal of the McCarthy Boat was to get to shore and make their way up to the cliff above the ship. The Valencia had a Lyle gun capable of firing a rope to the top of the cliff where a boatswain’s chair could be rigged to transport everyone off the ship.  Owing to the stormy weather, bad visibility, strong current and it seems, an overpowering fear of crossing the breakers to reach shore, the boat would travel several kilometers down the coast before reaching land near the Cape Beale Lighthouse. They would get to the lighthouse and contact the outside world for help one hour after the Bunker Party did.  Gosling is pictured here, in a photo that appeared in the Seattle Star on 27 January 1906.