Early Riser
Lost 1876 - Bermuda pilot gig (rowing boat)
Image courtesy of the Government of Bermuda.
Little has been published about this site, so some details are uncertain. If you can add to its story, please email info@shipwrecks.bm.
History
Early Riser was one of Bermuda's pilot gigs - long, light rowing boats with four or six oars. Gig racing was introduced to Bermuda by British garrison officers in the 1830s, and the boats were soon taken up by the island's pilots, who raced each other out to meet incoming ships and claim the job of guiding them through the reefs. Speed mattered: the first pilot to reach a ship usually got the fee.
Early Riser was lost in 1876. She was chosen as one of the subjects of Bermuda's 1986 shipwreck postage stamps (the 5-cent value), alongside the fishing sloop Alert.
Diving the wreck today
No dive-site description could be found; it is not one of the Government's buoyed open wrecks, and a small wooden gig is unlikely to have left much to see.