After several years in production the projected release date is summer 2013
This is the ultimate Bermuda history, culture, shipwreck film, shot in HD and produced to Network standards.
The film: 'Downing's Wreck - The Story of the Sea Venture' reviews the period of colonial expansion and the events of 1609 that led to the settlement of Bermuda before turning its attention to more recent times and the account of the Sea Venture's rediscovery in 1959, her identification and the study of her surviving timbers.
The study of the Sea Venture straddles a fascinating period in maritime archaeology, from its inception to the present day use of computer modeling techniques, each step shedding new light on Bermuda's most celebrated ship wreck.
Detailed mapping of the Sea Venture's timbers, a rare Elizabethan shipwright's manuscript and modeling software has allowed researchers to extrapolate the missing timbers and for the first time, allow us to see what the Sea Venture really looked like.
Further analysis with ship design software at the University of Southampton has demonstrated that her hull was exceptionally well designed and built specifically for the conditions of an Atlantic crossing - this allows us to address one of the key assumptions regarding the Sea Venture story - that her hull was not fit for purpose.
Historians have theorized that her deficiencies resulted in her being 'swallowed up' by the storm leading to the ship's demise. The archaeological research however, concludes that it was the fact that the hull was of such good design that she survived an incredible three and a half days in a hurricane, able to deliver her passengers safely to Bermuda and start over 400 years of our history.
Its thanks to this ship not because of her that things turned out as they did - for all of us.
Here is a preview of a DRAFT version of the 2nd of 5 chapters from the documentary.
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This film has in part been made possible by the generous support of the following (if you would like to support this project, please contact us for more information):
