WhydahStory

Showcase 2026 · Poster

Barry Clifford and Southack’s chart

A poster on Barry Clifford’s 1984 discovery of the Whydah and the 1717 chart that led him to the wreck — with Captain Cyprian Southack’s famous note copied out by hand, scholarly brackets and all, and a print of the chart itself pasted in. No name is written on the work.

The poster, panel by panel

Handwritten text is transcribed with the student's wording, spelling, and punctuation preserved; letter case is normalized for legibility.

Panel 1: the discovery

In 1984, Clifford made world headlines with his discovery of the remains of the Whydah, wrecked in a storm off Cape Cod in 1717. The Whydah is the first fully-authentiated pirate ship discovered in American waters. Her treasure are still being recovered today with the help of Clifford's 75-foot vessel, Vast Explorer.

Panel 2: the chart that found her

Barry Clifford used a 1717 navigational chart associated notes drawn by Captain Cyprian Southack. Southack marked near Wellfleet with the printed label "Pirate Ship whido lost" and wrote, in period spelling

"The Place where I came throuth with a whale Boat being order by ye Gover[men]t to look after ye Pirate ship whido Bellame command[er] cust away Ye 26 of April 1717 where I buried one hundred & two men drowend."

Pasted print

A black-and-white print of Southack's 1717 chart of Cape Cod is glued below the second panel — Barnstable Bay, the curl of the outer Cape, and Crab Bank all legible, with Southack's crossing course lines drawn over the water.