Name/Title
Beach Apparatus Cart or Breeches BuoyEntry/Object ID
2022.2.104.03Description
The beach cart and breeches buoy appear odd but worked well in helping to save lives. Many of the world's navies still use a modern version of this system to move personnel and cargo between ships at sea.
If the device was chosen for a rescue, the station's crew moved it to a shoreline location near the shipwreck. The equipment that had to be pulled with the device included the following:
1. Manby Mortar that fired the cannonballs
Faking box - Wood frame with three to four dozen 10"-12" wooden pins with line wound around them in a specific pattern that helped keep the rope untangled
2. Heavy rope that supported the breeches buoy as it carried survivors
3. Breeches buoy - leg harness attached to a floatation rope device used to transfer people from one place to another in dangerous situations.
4. Various tools
Development for the device started in the early to mid-1800s and became a common rescue technique utilized by the U.S. Life-Saving Service. Perfected by the Station Keepers and crews in the late 18th century, it remained an integral part of their operations until the start of helicopter rescue by the U.S. Coast Guard in the 1950s.Location
Building
Lifesaving Station MuseumOhio State Park
Marblehead Lighthouse State Park
